Something really cool happened today in the FOF garden. Uncle Ho managed to put together an impromptu singout. Between himself, Jennifer, Kate, Ray, and myself we managed to sing together for almost an hour. It was so well received that we have been asked to make it a regular event.
I think my personal favorite was Ho and I doing “Grey funnel line”.

Today at the very end of the day I was standing talking to some friends. As I stood there I noticed a family walking by, the father and son were debating over weither or not Anoki was real. The father was trying to get his approximatly 7 year old son to believe, while his son was dead set against the idea.
“he’s real”, the father said as he shot me a knowing glance.
“No it’s not. It’s a robot!”, he challanged.
“a robot? I don’t know this word? Roooww baaahtt…”
Dad, grinning, “see it’s not a robot he doesn’t even know the word!”
“row baaaht… buuhht.. boooat”, I continued as the boy looked at me strangely.
“oh oh row boat! Of course! Boy ya need ya be learnin ya speak better English. You man”, I pointed to his father, “what have ya been teaching this lad?”
“he’s a tough one”, the father jester.
“well lad yes these oars are for rowing things like row boats, so ya want ya be rowing do ya?”
“noooo! Hey I know a joke about rowing?”
“do ya now? I’d love to be hearin it.”
A small argument erupted as the boy tried to convince his parents to tell it for him.
Eventually they won and the boy, Justin, told me the following joke.

So there was this Viking ship, and it had a bunch of slaves. Well the first mate stepped up and announcedhe had good news and bad news. The good news is there will be a 10 minute coffee break. Everyone cheered. Then one slave asked, excuse me what’s the bad news? The 1st mate replied, after the coffee break the captain wants to water ski!
I burst into laughter and thanked justin for his joke. I then gave him a message in a bottle and bid them safe travels.

After lunch I was milling about in the area between the old and new duck. While there I noticed a father pulling a wagon. His wife was slightly in front of him carying their very young daughter. The wagon contained varyied items one would associate with young children and also contained a childs pirate hat.
“‘cuse me sir but ya seem to be missin’ yet pirate.”
Chuckling the father responded, “oh he’s up ahead. Hey Ryan! Come look, it’s a real pirate!”
At that I suddenly found myself in the company of a 3 yr old, slightly bashfull boy wearing a treasure map shirt. He, apparently feeling under dressed, scrambled for the hat in the wagon and as fast as possible had it on his head. He then stood staring at me, his eyes as big as saucers. I asked him if he was having a good time. He said “oh yes!” then I asked him to tell me of all the things he had seen. He talked of the joust and a dragon and something else I couldn’t understand. “you know, you can’t be a proper pirate without a message in a bottle.” so I handed him a bottle and he grinned ear to ear. So then I asked him if he had ever rowed a boat before. He didn’t seem to sure so I offered him an oar, which he happily took. Then, placing his bottle in his pocket, he began to follow me around in a wide circle around his parents. Dad whipped out the camera and began to take pictures. After one loop I decided to let Ryan take the lead. “where should we go lad?”
“we have to follow the river all the way around over to that castle”
“Oh, of course! Lead on cap’n”
So off we paddled again around the parents, with a stop to fix his hat, then we set a straight course for the dungeon tour. After arriving Ryan said “come on we have to explore in there.” I back pedaled a bit with a “well I think we better talk to your parents about that first”. Dad stepped up to the plate and took him in, leavin mom and sister alone.
I spoke with mom and the sister a little and learned that Ryan has been just obsessed with pirates the past few months. She thanked me repeatedly for playing with him, and tried to tip me. I insisted that I could not accept tips but that if she felt the need, find a muscian and give it to them on my behalf.

Four hours later I saw Ryan boarding the dreadnaught happy as could be. I called out an “ahoy” and the mothers face lit up. She and little sister came over and again thanked me and informed me she had indeed tipped the limey birds.

I’m not entirely sure but I think I have fans. I had been called over to the camp of the twisted claw where Thorin Grimm was discussing how one never knows when the simpelist of interactions can turn into some amazing memory for someone. No sooner had I rowed away than a father and daughter popped out from behind a tree at me.
“Ah ha! We found you!”
“yes, yes you did”
“you look much less like a drowned rat today then when last we saw you!”
“ahh yes well clerarer skies and all…”
“much better than port Washington”
“ahhhhhh yes port Washington”
“remember, you lead us in our own parade”
“ohhhhh of course! Now I remember! Huzzah and welcome to Bristol”

From this point we chatted about a number of things and I reccomended shows to see.

It felt really good to find out these people had made it a point to seek me out while at Bristol. So an extra special thanks to David and rai.

Today was probably one of my best days as Hawser at Bristol yet. I had a lot more street time today due to some unfortunate circumstances with jyncks having hurt his back. During my extended street time I spent a LOT of time rowing. I convinced a number of people to row, including a fun little boy who will be mentioned in another post.

As I was heading down to the 3 sheets stage to catch Rambling Sailors I ran into Jane the Phoole and Faso Latido heading in the opposite direction. Before I knew it Jane and Faso had boarded my ship and I rowed them to Guildhall row. Faso ran the tiller and Jane called out to all passersby.

Upon my return trip to 3 sheets I happened across a family who’s oldest daughter, Lilly who seemed about 5 , was enthralled by my rowing. I naturally stopped to talk to them. We spoke of many things such as elephants, butterflys, ships, and little brothers. I handed out mini-messages in a bottle to all 4 kids and Lilly seemed quite pleased with her gift. Then all of a sudden she looked down to the ground, grabbed a piece of gravel and held it up to me. “This is a lucky rock! I want you to have it!” she then gingerly placed it upon my elbow. I nearly lost it, her parents both were cracking up but trying hard not to make her feel awkward about her gift. I carefully reached up and removed my new rock and thanked her with a big smile. I then informed her that I was placing it in my treasure chest where it would be safe, and that I would keep it always.

Kids can be so sweet.

This weekend at faire turned out to be a pretty good weekend. Saturday kilted_behemoth and lostlittlesoul surprised me at the front gate. It was so nice to have them both back. We got to spend some time together off and on during the faire day, and then also at dinner with singedcat, the_shantyman, lifeonwry and stevejam. Overall Saturday was pretty much a blur for me, as I didn’t have a lot of sleep the night before.

Sunday was Dave day, and it was nice to catch up with a lot of Dave’s friends. Unfortunately his folks couldn’t make it, but we still had a good time. Some time before the parade I was rowing along and ran into purplepyro911 and cameracarl. They informed me that Mid-summer nights dream had a parrot puppet. So we headed off to investigate this new oddity. Once there, I chased the owner around the shop to get him to let me see the bird. To my surprise it was a wonderful green and blue color, and with very little prodding I tried it on. a minute or so of wearing it, and playing with it in the mirror had me sold. So the rest of the day was spent with my new parrot on my shoulder. Seconds after stepping out of the shop someone came up wanting to see it, and asked its name… I blurted out the 1st thing that came to mind, “feathers” and so for the rest of the day his name was feathers.
Feathers and I wandered the site getting stopped regularly for pictures, and to talk to people. After the parade I met up with the sweetest little girl, by the name of Eve. Eve is 3 years old, but will be 4 next week. She came up and met Feathers, and then struck up a conversation with me. She told me all about her pet gerbil who’s name I have forgotten, and her pony Lilly. Then she prompted to tell me about her boyfriend. At the mention of a boyfriend, her father who was standing off to one side looked at me with a look of shock. “Haven’t met him have ya dad?” “No… this is news to me!” I prompted Eve for a bit more information about the boyfriend, and was informed that they were getting married soon. Dad’s reaction to this was priceless, and I needled him with a “Yer’ invitation must have been lost in the mail” “uh yeah, I guess so” “So, do you have an engagement ring yet?” “Nooooo “, I nearly lost it. Someone listening to the conversation chimed in, “Typical male”. At that point my friend Gabriel, also 4, walked up and I introduced the two of them. Gabriel had the typical 4 yr old “ewww girls” reaction, while Eve seemed thrilled to meet another boy. I feel sorry for Eve’s dad in a few years.

I tried a few times during the course of the day to get some food but never could make it to a booth. I stopped for a while to watch Ogham, and cracked them up as feathers started to bob his head in time to the music. When I noticed I was starting to steal focus from Ogham I excused myself and wandered off. Finally, around 4:00, I managed to get near enough the nacho booth to grab some nachos. As I made my way to sit and eat I was engulfed by a group of kids again. “Are you a real one???”, “Real one what lad?” “Pirate!” Poking myself in the arm I responded, “Well I sure feel real enough ta me!” His eyes nearly popped out of his skull. Then after much conversation, gifting of messages in a bottle, attempted tipping, and some petting of Feathers I did finally get to eat my lunch.

I did a little research today, and have decided to re-name Feathers to “Anoki”, which means Actor in Native American, according to the baby name website I found. Seems appropriate…

This Saturday at Bristol we had a rain day. Most people tend to hate the rain days, or at least dislike them strongly. Me I kind of like them. I realize they are bad for business, and really cut into the profits, so yeah that’s bad. I still have a lot of fun with them though. As of last year during rain I have taking to rowing myself around the site. It’s pretty funny on its own, and I get tons of people that laugh at the sight of it. Comments are always plentiful, such as “Where’s your boat”, or “Rowing with both oars in the water?”, etc… I tend to make some sort of remark back and we laugh and I row on. As I said this in itself it a lot of fun. However, my FAVORITE thing to do with it is to get other people involved. For example, I happened upon a family walking across the site. There were 3 kids, a mom a dad, and a grandma. They had the obvious look of a group on a mission. So I rowed up along side them and they started laughing, dad began taking pictures.
The mother asked, “Where’s your boat?”
“What are ye blind? `Tis right here…”
“Oh, Oh… ooooffff course… I see…” , the kids laughed… (I’m pretty sure they could see it just fine)
“Well, since we are headed in the same direction, why don’t you climb on board”
more laughs, “oh.. ok.. sure…”
So we started walking again mostly in a line, dad to the side getting more pictures….
“So, now that yer on board… tis time to be giving ye yer duities”
the kids looked at me like I had just assigned a book report on War and Peace over spring break…
“You m’lady, since you are in front, you shall be the figurehead”, she chuckled again and with a smile we continued to walk.
“Oh, these are treacherous waters, we are going to need a gunner, you there lad…”, I pointed to the youngest of the children, a boy about 5 years old, “When I say so you fire the cannons, with a big loud BOOM, can you do that?” he nodded. “Alright, lets hear ya!” “BOOOM!!!”, he shouted at the top of his lungs. Mom dad and grandma laughed. We continued “sailing”
“Oh dear, it’s hard to see… we need us a lookout! You lass, you are now our lookout!”, she looked at me quizically. “You look out for rocks and thing, so put your hands up to yer eyes and look like this…”, I put my hand up flat as if i were blocking the bright sun. She followed suit. “Good lass you got it” We took a few more steps…
“FIRE CANNONS!!!”, “BOOOOM!” came the reply followed by laughter from my gunner, and his family
“ARE THERE ROCKS AHEAD LOOKOUT???” “YES!!!” came the reply, for in fact were walking right towards a flowerbed, thank you mom for playing along so well…
“Oh blast, well now what are we to do… AH HA I KNOW!, You lad”, I pointed to the 3rd and oldest child, You’re the helmsman, stear us away form the rocks”, without prompting he reached forward and grabbed the ships wheel and began to navigate us away from the flower bed.
“Good on it lad, fine sailor ya are”
“FIRE CANNONS”, “BOOM”
“ARE THERE ROCKS AHEAD?”, “NOPE!”
“STEADY AS SHE GOES, LAD”
“Now for you m’lady”, I approached the grandmother, all the while still rowing…
“Oh no… just leave me be…” she responded while holding her umbrella up to stay dry, “I’m enjoying this just as it is”, “Well that’s perfect then, because holding your parasol like that, you make the perfect mast for the ship…” , She chuckled, and dad snapped a photo.
“FIRE CANNONS!!!” , “BOOM!!!”, followed by more laughter
“Are we headed towards the restroom?”, the mother asked…
“AYE MAM, the privys be just ahead on yer left, in the white building with blue trim”
“Thank you!”
“Well, with that I think I shall leave you, you have a fine ship here, and have safe travels, do enjoy the rest of your day”
“FIRE CANNON!!!”, “BOOOM!!!!!”

I love it when something just works…

Thank you A-E, I kinda owe this bit to her, and the one day of rehearsals I attended last year… this is sort of my take on the great machine bit… I just focused it a bit more to suit my needs…

*When I originally posted this LJ cut it off for some reason… Read the full story now*
Is there hope for the future of the world, if the little girl I encountered this weekend is any example, I think there is a good chance. I was sitting at a Bounding Main show Sunday, talking with a couple of friends. I noticed that in front of them there were 4 children and their parents waiting for the show to begin. The boy in the group kept sneaking peeks back at me and at my treasure chest. I expected that I would have to make the 1st move, but before the conversation was over the mother apologetically interjected. “Excuse me.. he’s really curious about whats in your box there…” , the resulting conversation went something like this…
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This was supposed to be posted 2 weeks ago but somehow wasn’t.

Ok, so perhaps I’m a little nuts… Yeah I know.. “a little?”… I have been seeing those Capitol One “Card Lab” commercials, and found them kinda silly. “WAR KITTENS?” But I got to thinking, you know… It would be kinda cool to have a custom card… So I dinked around in the Gimp (photo editing software), and came up with an image to use on my card.

Yeah, I’m a dork… but hey, I really have fun playing Hawser…

And no, thats not my real card number!

Ok, so perhaps I’m a little nuts… Yeah I know.. “a little?”… I have been seeing those Capitol One “Card Lab” commercials, and found them kinda silly. “WAR KITTENS?” But I got to thinking, you know… It would be kinda cool to have a custom card… So I dinked around in the Gimp (photo editing software), and came up with an image to use on my card.

Yeah, I’m a dork… but hey, I really have fun playing Hawser…

And no, thats not my real card number!

In addition to the faire folks we had dinner with both nights, we were also lucky to have lifeonwry’s brother and his lovely wife join us as well. It was nice to get the opportunity to catch up with her brother, and to actually meet his wife.

As far as CD purchases go, I purchased “Hither Dither and Yon’s album: The Mad But Not Angry Tour”, “Empty Hats: Released”, “Porter & Stout: Three Sheets to the Wind; Live at the Claddagh”, “Porter & Stout: Treasures”, and “Axel the Sot: Songs to Sing When You’re Drunk”

I have returned safely from the TN Renaissance Festival. I can not thank Bob enough for all his efforts in arranging the trip, and for doing all the driving. You rock Bob! I also must thank Jen N. a million times over for putting up with the split guy / girl rooms. Also thank you to Bouncy Jen for having such an upbeat fun attitude all weekend, and not to mention a mind like a steel trap. An extra special thank you to Neisha, for making the trip out, and bringing Dina and Bethany with! It was so great to have you all back at faire.
Pictures are posted at: http://www.wohlershome.net/gallery/v/Renfaire/TNRF/TNRF_2008/
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Jen has arrived to Bob and Jen’s and the three of them will shortly be heading here to pick me up on my way to our great 2008 TNRF adventure. MUAHHAHHA! Look out world, here we come.

This past weekend marked the start of my faire season. What a great start, I have to admit I woke up Saturday and almost went back to bed. I really didn’t think I wanted to bother going. I finally convinced myself it would be worth it, loaded up the garb, a change of clothes, and made the 90 mile drive to Janesville. I am thrilled that I did it. I really needed this weekend, and I didn’t realize how badly. I changed in the parking lot, and stepped onto the site and it felt as if I had lost a years worth of stress in all of 2 minutes time. As I walked through the simple gates I was met by smiling faces of friends who welcomed me with open arms. The weekend was spent playing with patrons, stalking musicians, kindling new friendships / renewing old ones, and helping out friends when they needed it. On Sunday I ran into Ron and Susan Scott-Fry the entertainment directors for Bristol, or rather they ran into me as I was playing with a couple patrons. Ron complemented me on Hawsers voice, as well as my shedding of my glasses… (Something he suggested a couple years back, that I have now been doing for about a year) Sunday also included Bounding Main bringing Robin Hood, Little John, and myself up on stage to join them in closing their show by singing “Health to the Company”, that was really really cool too.
The weekend also found Mr Hawser making his way into photos, and videos. I have to admit to finding that pretty cool also.

MAJOR KUDOS to all the staff, performers, and anyone else that had a hand in putting together the Janesville faire. What a top notch group!

All in all, a fabulous start to the season. This weekend, I’m off to the Tennessee faire with Bob, Jen, and Jen. I can’t wait!

To all my friends who are hurting so deeply over this latest tragedy, I offer you my most heartfelt sympathies. I would be lying if I even implied he and I were close. We exchanged pleasantries a few times, and he made me laugh more times than I can recall. The world is an emptier place, and he will be missed. If there is anything I can do, if you need a shoulder to cry on, or an ear to listen, I am here do not hesitate.

My bags are packed, I’m ready to go… wow, funny the song actually fits. I am packed (mostly, I do have to toss in the razor after I use it in the morning) and as ready as I will ever be to attend the SirsiDynix SuperConference in Detroit. While there I will be giving not one, but two presentations at the conference. I’m slightly nervous about that, but I think I’ll do fine. Hell if I can walk up to complete strangers while wearing funny clothes, and have a conversation with them about things they don’t know anything about I can certainly give a presentation to complete strangers about things they no little to nothing about while wearing funny clothes… Wierd how the same description fits both my Garb and a Suit isn’t it? If I survive the experience I’ll fill you all in on the experience. Oh, don’t expect a lot of nice pictures like I had last year… I will be staying in a mega multi-story hotel, and the entire conference takes place in it. Photos may include such sites as… Hallways… Hotel rooms… and my obligatory self portrait in a hotel hallway mirror…
Thanks to docdetroit for the pub suggestion, I have already made plans to visit it tomorrow and possibly Saturday nights for their live Irish music. Oh and just to let you all know, NO I did NOT have tickets on ATA.

Next year’s conference is in Dallas TX, during the Scarby run… MUAHAHAHAH… I am thinking I will have to arrange it so that I can get a few days in at the faire too..

I’m home safe, the normally 3.5 hour route home from port, by way of the girlfriends house, took an extra hour due to the weather. Boy am I glad we left at 8 when we did.

Thank You to those who contacted me, a meetup was just not in the cards. The parade, and post parade activities turned into an all night event. I’m really glad she went with, it was fun having her there.

I’ll post more, when I have slept… But WOW was this a fun trip, and worth it.

Bests:

• Picture with Santa Clause and the pirates!
• Us becoming the #2 attraction at the photo shop while we were there
• Helping the fund raiser to teach teddy bears to drive
• Jack Sparrow and the Beauty Salon
• Having a fellow pirate who could handle “yes and…” and run with it. Ian you rock
• Cute wee little lass who wanted to talk and talk to us pirates. That wonderment, and glow is just amazing
• Boy who shouted… “HEY I REMEMBER YOU!!!” while grinning from ear to ear.
• Chasing after the horse drawn carriage, shouting about my ship leaving with out me

Worst:

• Weather on the way home.
• Having to leave early casue of the weather, and distance

This past Saturday found me in my Pirate garb in Grafton, WI for the Grafton Holiday Parade. The Port Washington Pirate fest had asked for costumed volunteers, so I volunteered. I got up at 7, I had set the alarm for 6 but must have flailed in the middle of the night and turned it off. I made a mad dash to shower and dress, and get out the door by 7:30. I made it to Grafton by 10:15 and as I was getting out of the car I was greeted by Tom, A-E, and Chloe. We then walked to the lineup point and waited for others to show. Step off time for the parade was at 11 a.m. and were were float number 89. I think we stepped off around 11:30 or so. I had a blast riling up the crowd. I gave out 80 mini candy canes in the first 1/3 of the parade. I was also handing out flyers for the pirate fest and I know I handed out hundreds of them. I’m not sure how many came in a box (I’m guessing 1000) but I think between us all we handed out about 1 and 3/4 boxes. It was really a great time,and I look forward to the next parade Dec, 8th. On the way home I stopped and had dinner with Carl and Juli, then home to relax.

Here is the latest word I have and from what I understand pretty close to the text to be used in the obit. I will definitely be attending the wake, and probably the funeral too.

Elizabeth Ann Lindel, passed away on Monday November 12, 2007 She is survived by her fiancé Michael Sodimier; parents Roseanne and Robert Godawa; brothers, Michael, David & Brian; Sister Mary Godawa; daughter, Elizabeth Dawson; son, Billy Lindel; Grandchildren William & Emily. Arrangements have been made with Merritt Funeral Home 800 Monroe St. Mendota, IL 61342 www.merrittfh.com . Visitation will be held from the hour of 3pm to 8pm on Friday, November 16th. Mass will be at 11am on Saturday, November 17th at Holy Cross Church in Mendota. Donations can be sent to the Crohn’s Foundation in lieu of flowers. Bereavement card can be sent to Michael Sodomier 2617 W. 90th St. Evergreen Park, Il 60805

Elizabeth Lindel
1961-2007

Calm seas, and safe passage.