Halfway There?

It’s the Wednesday before the fourth weekend of Scarborough Faire. I can’t believe that we are almost to the halfway point for Scarborough’s season!

I’m sitting, working with Jim Hancock on designing and fixing and mixing and foleying sound for “I Sense Danger”. We’ve done a good first/second pass on Part One and are working on Part Two today. We’ve gotten over 5 minutes done so far and have been working on it for about 5 hours so far today. Not bad, not bad at all. It’s really amazing when you work on sound for a picture. There is ALWAYS sound happening. So, when sound is not happening you really notice it. Where are the footsteps? Did those swords connect? What about the wind in the trees or the birds in the branches? You are always asking yourself: “Does this sound enhance the comedy or silliness or somberness of a scene? Can the existing sound be enhanced enough to have impact, or must a sound (Foley, after the sound artist) be imported or created? Where are the people - in a big room, a small room? It can drive you crazy. Suddenly you are noticing ALL the sounds around you – the birds, cars, people laughing, music playing, planes flying, tractors driving, bicycles speeding by, doors opening, wind in trees, the crunch of tires coming to a halt. You hear it all. It speaks to me of the complex and oft times unnoticed richness of life. Louie (London Broil) is across the site working on Fx. You must all understand how tedious each of these tasks can be. Both Jim and Louie are listening to/looking at the tiniest bits of time – much less than a second! Jim is engineering, doing all the actual work. I am his support, trying to keep a “clean” ear, taking notes and trying to keep track of all the foley. Much of the time I sit here in complete silence listening to the tap, tap, tap upon his keyboard as he searches, fixes, learns and makes some good magic. It’s almost three, so soon it will be time for a break. We’ll see.

And we should see a score for “Danger” from Kelly later this week. We’ve received a wish list of instruments from our composer and will (again hopefully) have the whole thing recorded by the end of the run here. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

Our documentary “An Inside Look” is to be reviewed in the upcoming issue of Renaissance Magazine (#61). It’s so nice the support they are giving us as Don Juan and Miguel®, and as Blind Dog Entertainment®. Lady Janet is to visit Scarborough this weekend. It’ll be nice to meet.

For those of you who wish to “click” the breast cancer site to support the cause – the address is www.breastcancersite.com

Well, that’s about it for now.

Oh man! The computer just froze again!!!!

Scarborough Faire!

Well folks, as you might possibly have guessed - we all made it to Scarborough Faire and have been having a great season so far!

The opening weekend was one of the best we've seen. Perfect weather, lots of new faces, and lots of old friends to laugh with again! I DO enjoy this festival. It is so like coming home - all the familiar faces, all the familiar places so steeped in memories of delights.

There have been some changes at Scarborough - a new bridge, new kitchens, a sit-down food area, some new shows - some faces from the past that have returned again, and, (sadly) some faces that are just not here (for whatever reasons).

We've decided to perform The Queen of Spain Show here this year. We haven't done it for a while because it is so strange and lots of work. We performed it this past weekend (#2) and, frankly, Saturday was a bit "rough" - we normally have Esmeralda in the show and had to cover for the parts she's not here to perform and for the time I usually get to change. Sunday, though, was quite fun. (At least for me.) We've been doing it at our 3:30 time slot at the Crown.

It's been nice having "Bathos the Muse" (Eddie Jeff Cahill) and Zilch (Terry Foy) coming to the Weird Show at 5:30. They add so much goofiness. Makes me think of old-time Vaudeville! By the way, Zilch is now a published author with his new work "The Night Before Christmoose" (although I may have the spelling wrong.)

NOTE ON R.E.S.C.U. Two of the final pubsings here - at the King''s Pub and at The White Horse are donating the tips for those shows to R.E.S.C.U. This is a sweet way for our patrons to be able to help out those in our Renaissance community who are in need.

BLIND DOG NOTES:

Martha Gay and Max Dyer got a terrific review in the latest Renaissance Magazine (issue #60) for their duet CD "Heartstrings". Read it and get the CD. You'll not be disappointed.

"I Sense Danger"
Movement movement movement!
There seems to be some energy here at Scarborough which promotes action in the artistic realm. Jim Hancock and I (with some help from Shannon O'Brien) are busily working on the sound. Louie (of The London Broil) is working on Fx. We found a guy in the local community who is willing to give a hand. His name is Jason and we found him on the DFW Indie boards for independent film makers. Thanks Jason!

Well, that's about all for now......I'll be back in contact soon. It's hard to write this and work on the film at the same time!

Oh, I did want to mention that the Breast Cancer Society really needs people to go to their website and click for free mammograms. Its free to us and helps out folks in need.

Oh......BIRTHDAYS.......this month so far Jim, Shannon (a limo night), Terry Foy (a big one), Patrick Sweet and Duncan! (oh, and Bodge's would've been this past week)

On the way to Scarborough Faire

Greetings faithful readers, fans and friends! Here's hoping that life is bringing you much joy!

Well, Arizona is at an end for 2008 and Scarborough opens in but a few days. The Arizona run was truly great this season. SO much fun! SO many folks came and laughed and chatted and laughed again. We had near perfect weather (some chilly and some gusty days) and near perfect attendance. I think we broke records, if not, we at least came close. We met some new people and made some new friends.

We got to know the new (young) whip-master Adam Crack (not his real name thank God!). We even got involved with him at the festival's in-house talent show. Don Juan, I, Adam and Ricki and Jef (Tortugas) performed a "whip ballet" on a Saturday night - complete with pinks Tu-tus and blond wigs while Frank (Cast in Bronze) performed a disturbing version of the Blue Danube Waltz on the carollon! It went over swimmingly and should be posted on You Tube sometime in the near future. I'll let you know the details when I find them out.

Yes, all-in-all Arizona was a lot of fun. I love being neighbors with Hey Nunnie Nunnie!, Fool Hearty, Clan Tinker, the jousters and more. I cherish our early morning coffee clutches - so much laughter, so many fine ideas shared. SO much love expressed - it's truly a gift.

And now I'm "on the road again". Travelling from my home near Kingman to Waxahachie. Alas alack my truck broke down in Tucumcari! (poop!). The dealership here says they will have it fixed today (Wednesday) and I should be on the road again later this afternoon. We'll see. At least I have time to work on the Blog! I had lunch at a terrific local place called "Dell's". If you drive through Tucumcari (off of US 40) - I'd recommend it. Good food, nice folks, lovely atmosphere! A few friends (Hey Nunnie Nunnie) are behind me and have offered their help. Hopefully I won't need it. If I'm not at Scarborough Saturday, you'll all know why. Actually - as my Mom used to say "Come Hell or high water I'll be there!"

An update on the Tucumcari stop-over. My truck was fixed. And is being fixed again. Luckily I was only ten miles out of town when the problem reared its head again. Seems like I need a fuel pump. Ah well. Tucumcari Tonight!

Oh, I do want to put in my two cents about the upcoming presidential elections. It's interesting to me that we at Renaissance Festivals represent a time of Monarchy. You know, Democracy is really a much better idea. So, this coming November, please exercise a "right" that millions of people on this planet wished they had, and that is the right to vote. Please VOTE!