Endings and beginnings!

Greetings and well met! I am writing from somewhere in the beautiful Smokies heading Northward toward Sterling. The air is moist and the land verdant with vitality.

I wanted to write this before all the beautiful memories of Scarborough begin to fade into the shadows of "then" as opposed to the brightness of the present.

Thank you all for an excellent 25Th anniversary for us at Scarborough! A special thanks to all those lovely ladies in the parade (Wenches, you know who you are) for the fun and flowers! We both appreciate it so much. And thanks for all the pictures, stories and warmly shared good times. This may not have been the most stellar year at Scarborough, attendance-wise, but was a lovely year people-wise! The weather and the Flu Scare had an effect upon us all - as did the troubled economy. Memorial Day Weekend was so much fun! And thanks to all for an excellent (and truly weird) "Weird Show" on Monday. Well, actually, all the shows were great fun the entire weekend and, for that matter, most of the season. It was interesting for me to experiment with The Queen of Spain. Thank you, Countess, for your ideas and help. I think that all the silliness proves that we know how to have a good time. We are, as always, hoping to be back next year for the 30Th Anniversary of the fair! Now that should be fun!

SOME UPDATES

I Sense Danger: Yes folks! Work is still going forward on our most ambitious project to date. There is still a possibility of a July - early August release or "event" (in Upstate New York). Louie is putting forth a Herculean effort to try to get the remainder of the video work organized and completed. Jim and I has tweaking music and sound. We will keep you all posted.

Adam Crack's Instructional DVD: We shot an instructional whip-cracking DVD for Adam Winrich (aka Adam Crack). The majority of it was shot (by Blind Dogger Dr. Jules) at Scarborough using three volunteer "Guinea Pigs" who were taught 5 "cracks" in 3 days. Pl;us there is going to be clips from his show in Arizona, some of the stuff he has done with us at our "Weird Show" in Scarborough and in Arizona and some of his Guinness World Record cracks. Its a lot and was quite fun to shoot. It should be out in July. Again, we'll keep you posted.

Miguel's/Doug's vocal CD: Wow! The ice has been broken! I actually recorded my first tune!! Yes - Eddie Jeff Cahill and I - with engineering by jimusic - recorded a favorite song together. I have a feeling that the rest will be recorded in Sterling. Again, I'll let you know. Oh, by-the-by I a trying to think of a title. Ideas?

Sterling: I start rehearsal/workshops at Sterling the beginning of June. these last, actually, throughout the Summer. the rehearsal schedule in June, though, is always pretty "dense"; we rehearse 6 days a week - 8 hours a day. After Opening, though, the rehearsals drop to three to two days a week. Its a lot of work, but mostly joyous and helps create an excellent atmosphere!

R.E.S.C.U.: Don't forget R.E.S.C.U. If you don't know what it is - it helps keep our community going - Google it and find out more. Thank you Nancy Douglas for your generous gift. you are truly a "patron" of our community.

So, that is about all for now. Be bright. Don't forget to share a smile and have some fun. Drop us a line sometimes!

Scarborough - halfway (almost)

Greetings dear friends and fans and folks all! I hope you are all enjoying a delightful Spring!

I am sitting at Scarborough Faire listening to my good friends Martha Gay and Cris Arnold rehearsing. Martha is downstairs working on her harp (such a gift to even listen to a rehearsal) and Cris is on his stage honing his ability with the bullwhip. I can hear the cracking from far away! It is a beautiful, warm, sunny Spring day here in Central Texas.

The festival has been going well. It's always interesting being here this time of the year. We started out with really COLD (for Texas) temperatures...the first week we had freeze warnings at night! Plus the first two Sundays of this festival are on Christian High Holy Days - Palm Sunday and Easter. While we do get folks coming to the fair - many are involved in church, or family get-togethers. I think that Scarborough is a nice place to come on Easter. There is a church service held (almost) every Sunday in the Wedding Garden (around 11) and on Easter the Court and Cast of the festival present a "period" Mass - a mass that would have been done during Henry's time. I've always found it lovely and moving. Anyway....the faire is going good - we have 5 more weekends of fun in the Sun (rain, hail, storms, whatever - we'll be here and open on weekends). Please stop by and see us at the Crown Stage! (11:00, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30).

Folks have been asking about "The Queen of Spain". I am having "her" re-designed to be able to pop up in shows and play without ding the full "Queen" show. I think it'll be fun. Hopefully we'll be seeing her soon!

Also, on a personal note, I (Miguel) am pleased to let you all know that I have dropped nearly 50 pounds since Thanksgiving! I am feeling terrific! (Thank you Jenny Craig). Its so much fun having my costumes taken-in. (Thank you Countess Mary and Joanne!) I had a new belt made in Arizona (by our lovely Stage Manager, Sarah) and just had it taken in 3 inches by Leather Man extraordinaire Dennis Thatcher (who has a shop in Pecan Grove - stop by!), Thanks to all of you who have been so supportive in my quest towards better health!


BLIND DOG STUFF:

I SENSE DANGER

Work still continues on Danger. We are proceeding apace (no "Duncan Pace pun intended...okay, well, maybe!). We are in the final stages of Fx and of sound mixing. Hopefully we'll be bringing a premier to Upstate New York sometime this summer -either in Syracuse or in Rochester...we'll let you know. I am so thrilled about this project. It is excellent and, I think you will agree when you see it - well worth the wait!

DOUG'S CD (Miguel Sings What He Damn Well Pleases - or, "The Promise")

We're coming up with a do-able list of tunes. I've forgotten how many songs I love to sing! I know I'll do a couple of Renaissance favorites and a song from Frank Della Penna's musical "The Bells" (Oh, How I Remember), and perhaps an original! I'm starting on recording this week with the help of Martha Gay and, of course, Jim Hancock! I am planning on releasing it right after Sterling this year!

SARAH MULLEN:

Sarah still continues work on her new CD. I think it will be her best! We'll let you know when it's ready. It might be this Winter.

ADAM CRACK:

We are moving forward with Adam Winrich's instructional DVD on whip-cracking. Adam currently holds (at least) 6 Guinness World Records for various abilities with the whip. He is probably the best in the world at this time. Jose (Don Juan) and him had been having fun having a "whip-off" at the Weird Show in Arizona and, after conversations with Adam, we decided to produce his DVD. We are thrilled to be doing so. Dr. Jules is our camera man and Jim is on the sound. We have already filmed parts of the DVD (in Arizona) and will complete filming of it here at Scarborough. It should be ready by the end of June at the latest! This instructional DVD will be different from most as it will show specific "cracks" and their uses in a performance venue. Plus we will have highlights from Adam's Renaissance show and his Guinness World Record award-winning whip action! Look for it this June!

THE LOST PRINCESS:

The Lost Princess will be getting a National Distribution through S'more Entertainment! We are thrilled. Check for it in local stores!

OTHER STUFF:

Jose and I are also working with Tawn Jones to create a new Renaissance act! It's gonna be great!

Well, friends, that is about it for now. Enjoy the Spring. Keep positive thoughts happening and remember what is really important in life!

Drop me a line, sometime (or say hey on Facebook!)

2009 - My how time flies!

Howdy everyone!

After noticing that my last post was from October 2008 and some gentle prodding from "Princess Esmeralda" has inspired me to once again endeavor to communicate with the world at large.

It's 2009! A new year! A new president. A time for making (and breaking) resolutions...and a time to get ready for a terrific year ahead! At this moment we are feverishly preparing for the 2009 season of the Arizona Renaissance Festival! We'll be performing weekends beginning February 7 and continuing for 8 glorious weekends - including Presidents' Day.

However, before rushing into the new season I thought I'd do a little catching up - so here goes.....

We ended the 2008 Renaissance season at the beautiful Carolina Renaissance Festival. Perhaps folks are deciding to "take a vacation" closer to home and explore distant worlds near their back yards, or people are learning what a good entertainment value a "Ren Fest" can be because despite worries of gas shortages and difficult financial times the festival was a success with more folks attending than ever before. Carolina was a lot of fun!

On our way back to Arizona we decided to visit a Renaissance fair we'd never been to before - the Louisiana Renaissance Festival. We've known Rick, one of the owners of the festival, ever since his days as a "Hawker" at the Arizona Festival. He often visits faires around the country and we ended running into him at almost all of the festival we worked last year. He kindly invited us to visit - so we did. We showed up the weekend following the closing of Carolina. Good friends were performing there - the Tortuga Twins, Paulo Garbanzo, The Washer Women, Jousters, Fool Hearty, The Pirate Shantyman and his Bonnie Lass, The Lost Boys, and more...(I know I've forgotten some folks, I hope you'll forgive me!). On our first day we decided to hang out with the court. Don Juan and Miguel were greeted warmly by her majesty Queen Elizabeth I! And we had a really great time just being around her....Elizabeth (Kimberly Stockton) is a fun queen, lovely with children, firm with her court (in a playful fashion) and truly dedicated to ensuring that everyone have a really good time! And the actress under the (gorgeous) gown is a bright, cheerful, intelligent and talented woman. Thanks for being so kind to us Kimberly! After spending most of the day with her, Don Juan and Miguel checked out the enclosed bar where the Lost Boys were rocking and the Tortuga's tickling the fancy of the bar crowd. What a fun scene! And what a cute, small, festival. It has a lovely little lake in the center - so the festival surrounds a very peaceful scene. I still hold an image of a Scot in full regalia, standing on a fog-enshrouded peninsula, piping as the Queen approached and the fog slowly lifted....lovely. We spent the next day there sans costume (as ourselves) and still had a terrific time. It's not often I get to visit a fair - and a new one. If you're ever in the area at that time of year I highly recommend stopping by and sharing in the fun. Thanks to Rick and everyone there who showed us such a nice time!

After Louisiana our paths separated - Don Juan et. al., continued onto Arizona while I stopped by the Texas Renaissance Festival, Toon Town and Nuevo Chile. I was able to attend (not as Miguel) the final weekend - which was Thanksgiving weekend. TRF is still a beautiful festival. One of the true Grand Daddies of Renaissance Festivals which has truly earned its reputation as one of the best! Thanks to Jeff Baldwin I had run of the place. What good fun. Jeff is the General Manager of the entire shebang! I remember Jeff as a street performer. As I recall he used to do a show with fellow General Manager of a Texas Renaissance Festival Coy Sevier (Scarborough) who I also ran into that weekend! Talk about old friends! I will not even try to list all the names, so many good memories. The Texas Renaissance Festival had a really great year in 2008 with well over 400,000 souls entering the gates! That's a lot of people!! On a personal note I would like to say thanks to Lewis Pillsworthy for saving Thanksgiving! Louis is half of "The Other Brothers" (when we worked with them they were called "Throw Up"). Thanks Lewis!

Also while in Texas we did get some more work done on "I Sense Danger". Kelly Stallard - a friend who I have worked with at the sterling Renaissance Festival wrote a beautiful score for "Danger" - We were able to get most of it recorded while I was there - with Jim Hancock (The Burly Minstrel) finishing up the task after I left. We were able to get some top-notch musicians to help us out - Martha Gay (Cantiga) on harp, Bob Bielefeld (Cantiga) on flute, Alex Korolov (Cantiga) on viola-gamba, Owl Morrison on viola, and Michael Huebner (Wolgemut) on drums. More about that later.....

So, after TRF I scurried home to enjoy a Holiday Season which was warm, full of family, fun and a nice quiet quality. I do believe this was true for many people this year - that the Holidays were quiet and somewhat contemplative. I loved it! Thanks for all the cards, and good wishes...I hope they are returned to all ten-fold.

UPDATES

"The Lost Princess" - I know that "Princess" has been available for some time now but a company called S'More Entertainment - out of California, is setting up for a new domestic release of the DVD. We've been working closely with them to try to bring something new to this version. First, we are allowing them to use some of the footage from our documentary "An Inside Look" for one of the extras, plus we've given them access to a fairly large photo gallery. Also, as something I want to do now for "I Sense Danger" - Don Juan, Esmeralda and I went to a studio and recorded a comment track to the film. It's entertaining, illuminating and humorous. I believe the release date is set for April. I'll let you all know when and where it will be available. Oh, here's a weird note. For those of you who are indeed fans of "The Lost Princess" we could use your help on IMDB.com - which is an Internet movie listing service now owned by Amazon.com. If you liked the movie - please go to the site and give "The Lost Princess" (2005) a decent rating. I must warn you that if you give it a 10, that score will probably get thrown out - so please give it a fair (but decent) rating. Thanks for the support - this can help us later.

I SENSE DANGER

I have been getting many queries about "Danger". And I thank you all for your patience regarding the release date. I and the whole Blind Dog team, are anxious to have it get into your hands. We had hoped to release it during Arizona, but, realistically think we will have to wait until Scarborough or, at the latest, Sterling. I apologize that it is taking so long - but we want this one to be as perfect as possible. We have all been putting in many, many hours in these past few months. I just went to Texas last week to help Jim Hancock (Burly Minstrel) work on assembling the final pieces of sound and beginning the final mixing process. We still have a bit of the score to record and a clean-up on one of the three musical numbers in the piece. Jose has been working with our artist friend (and genius) Steve Parke - and they are creating a great design for the packaging and poster - I know you'll all love it. Louie and Duncan have been working diligently on all the video (picture) special effects. We are nearly done and can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. As things happen I shall let you know. But for now - I promise you that "I Sense Danger" will delight all of you and be worth the wait. As of now we are planning a "Premier" in either Syracuse, Oswego, or Rochester this summer. Again, I'll let you know details when I find them out.

RENAISSANCE MAGAZINE

We'd like to take a moment to thank The folks at Renaissance Magazine for their continued support - they reviewed Blind dog projects "An Inside Look" - our documentary about ourselves on DVD and "Heartstrings" - the beautiful CD by harpist Martha Gay (Cantiga) and cellist Max Dyer (Cantiga). Also, there is a lovely article about your favorite dynamic duo in the latest edition - Issue #64 (vol 13#6 ISSUE 64). Thanks Danielle for your sweet words!

AND, FINALLY, NOW......

Well, back to the beginning on this. We are gearing up for the Arizona Faire - hope you all come out to see us.

Our year is shaping up beautifully. We'll be here in Arizona, and then back to Scarborough Fair in April and May. We will return to Sterling (huzzah!) this year for SEVEN weekends of fun. After that we'll be at Mt Hope at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Festival for yet another seven weekends. The beer is so good there! And we should be wrapping up our year at Carolina again.

Well, that's it for now. For those of you who are being really hurt by the economy are thoughts and prayers are with you. If we all pull together, we can all make this a chance for some meaningful and excellent change.

Be well. And "Godspeed".

Adios Pennsylvania and Hello Carolina!!

ADIOS PENNSYLVANIA

Well, our final weekend at PA proved to be a bit moist - rain both days - with a real downpour on Sunday. Still we had a good time and thoroughly enjoyed performing there. At the Finale I sang Jerry Spurlock's "Bring on the Starlight" with a bunch of friends - a truly magical song. I love singing it.

We had a final "International" party on Sunday night hosted by our friends "The Tartan Terrors" - I brought pierogis (Esmeralda cooked them for me) And no, I did not hand make them - they came frozen and were still delicious.

There was a RESCU rally planned for Tuesday evening after our first Student Day of the week (in PA). I was real jazzed as I was to help MC, sing a few rock-n-roll tunes with Burley Minstrel Jim Hancock and Gary Mazzu (Demetrius) and perform with some of the PA pro-cast in "Pyramus and Thisbee" (from A Midsummer Night's Dream) I was to be "Wall" and "Moonshine". Unfortunately the event was delayed an evening due to inclement weather! (Some mild expletive here). It is going on tonight (Wednesday) but I am traveling toward NC so wasn't able to be a part of it. YOU can still be a part of RESCU, though - go to www.rescufoundation.com and support your Renaissance friends and community.


Hopefully we'll be back next year and do it all agian. (For a longer run, too!)

HELLO CAROLINA!!!

We open in Carolina this weekend. I really love this fair - it is really lovely and there is something very sweet about it. Perhaps the audience, the friends we perform with, the location or the time of year. Anyway, I am looking forward to it.

We are going to be sharing our stage with "Cast in Bronze" (Frank Della Penna) this season. We share a stage with him in Arizona and it is always a joy. Besides - this way we don't have to worry about the volume of the Carillon during our show....(haha) and I might even get to play it while Frank is not watching!!

I hear that gas might be an issue in the Charlotte area. I wonder if this is a real problem or a perceived problem. The emails I'm getting from friends and fans there seem to indicate that there is little actual problem but a bunch of hysteria or some businesses taking advantage of the situation. Regardless we'll be there and we'll be open. The weather for this weekend looks great! Can't wait to see all of our old friends again! Please stop by and say "Buenos Dias"!

We're planning on getting a lot of work done in "I Sense Danger" during the run of the show - in fact we'll try to get it inches away from completion.... I will keep you all posted.


On Facebook there is now a Don Juan and Miguel Fan Club. I've been wondering if I should join or if there is something fun I can do for the group. Once I figure something out, I'll let you know.

Well, that's it for now. I'm hoping to keep these updates happening more often. Be well, laugh for no reason. Share a compliment with a friend or stranger and remember that life is a great gift!


Thanks for all of your support!

Well here we are approaching our last weekend at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Festival for the '08 season and we're having fun.

Last weekend - our first of two - was downright fun! The Globe Stage turned out to be excellent - the crowds were big (especially on Saturday) and the shows a "hoot". I enjoyed playing my Bladivarius at the opening with my musical friends at the Gazebo by the Front Gate and had a delightful time playing on the streets with all the patrons and denizens of Mt. Hope. I really enjoy the queen here, such a fun and caring person!

Thanks to everyone who came out to see our show, and thanks to all of you who got our "stuff" - it helps keep "Blind Dog" rolling! Thanks!

I believe our schedule is the same for this weekend. We'll be on the Globe at 12, 3, and 4:30 and at the Swashbuckler (up by the bar) for the Weird Show at 5:45 - The weather doesn't look nearly as bad as predicted so come on out and enjoy the Oktoberfest Weekend with us before we head for the Carolina Renaissance Festival beginning next weekend.

I am sticking around for a few days - there is a RESCU rally on Tuesday after the student day - Gary Mazzu, Jim Hancock and I will be MC-ing and performing some classic rock n roll tunes - plus I'm going to be playing "Wall" in a production of Pyramus and Thisbee from a Midsummer Night's Dream - should be a lot of fun. Here's hoping we raise a bunch of money for our favorite charity! If you'd like to help (in an easy way) please use Goodsearch for your internet searches. Money will be donated to RESCU if you use this service, www.goodsearch.com, and list RESCU as your charity of choice. Check out RESCU at www.rescufoundation.com

BLIND DOG NEWS

We've all been working hard on "Danger" - and it is becoming something wonderful - Jose and I did some "looping" this week, and we received the score for part 3 from Kelly Stallard - she is wonderful! Keep in touch and we'll keep you all up to date.

OTHER STUFF

I must get on a soap box here for a moment. Even though we exist in a world that portrays a Monarchy (the world of Renaissance Festivals) as a wonderful and enlightened form of government - we must remember that we actually live in a Democracy (ok, a Republic) which functions best if everyone participates. Many many people throughout time have struggled, suffered and even died achieving the "right to vote". Within my living memory people in this nation have struggled for this right.

Please vote. Don't think that your vote does not count - it does.