For those who have an aversion to cuteness, you might want to close your eyes and just listen to the brilliant musicians and drummers of Darbuka from the recent hafla at Glory War X. Little Baby Buka already has rhythm at such a young age! Dance, baby, dance!
Here's a nice four minute clip of the Darbuka hafla Saturday night at last weekends' Glory War X in the northern Outlands. The awesome musicians and drummers alone make this worth a listen, but if you've got a sharp eye, you'll see that the Queen of the Outlands can sure dance up a storm, too.
I am safely returned from Glory with a sunburn, a cold and missing my debit card. The cold is probably due to the hailstorm that pounded camp right after we got our camp spot picked out. Unfortunately, the new tent is NOT waterproof, which made for a full day of drying-out activities.
A quick trip back into town for a gigantic blue tarp sure helped keep the rain out, but my new tent is basically in need of a complete re-design before it can be trusted to hold up against Outlands weather again. I don't want to be part of the Darbuka synchronized swim team again. That and the high altitude have kicked my butt.
Just for giggles, I wore my "Blue Sun" shirt for set-up and take-down, just to see how much overlap there is of "geeks who like BOTH the SCA and Firefly". The tally? LOTS. Nearly everyone commented on it. Gave me a pretty nice second degree sunburn, though, being sleeveless.
We had a "hoe-down hafla" on Friday night, where some of us dressed in redneck/cowboy middle eastern garb to entertain the masses. I think most of the visiting revelers were just confused about the cowboy hats. That'll teach us to mix time periods and music styles. Or maybe the SCA is just not ready for Iraqi bluegrass.
I am very happy to say that the Cloudship bedouin tent is flying once again - this is the original bedouin tent that I took refuge in at an SCA event called Silver Pass many, many moons ago during a hailstorm that beat my poor little nylon dome into a pancake. This is also where I took refuge again, the first night of Glory. Weird going full-circle like that. I felt a twinge of nostalgia for my old self, about ten years ago in the SCA.
The people contained in the Cloudship at the time were the ones who encouraged my interest in middle eastern dance. This was the nucleus of what would become my household, Darbuka, a few years later. This tent was the inspiration for my big bedouin tent (which was also at Glory, having been well-maintained by the new owners) which was the inspiration for an EVEN BIGGER tent made by a couple out-of-kingdom Darbukans. At one time I had thought the Cloudship was BIG, but getting to see it next to the two other tents was amazing.
Another amazing thing is the new baby in our household. Now, I don't normally like very small children, but she's just fantastic. At one year old, she already has better rhythm than most adults. I have a cute video of her that I will post soon. Be forewarned, it will sicken you with its cuteness.
I am already imagining her in the 1st grade, doing a show and tell project about middle eastern music..."And this is a masmoudi, and this is chiftitelli..." while the other kids are saying things like "I drew a pony!"
Don't worry, my biological clock is broken. I'm only living vicariously through my friends.
As for the missing debit card, whoever may have found it, don't bother hacking it - the amount of money in that account won't get you more than an hour out of town with gas prices as high as they are now.
I'm leaving for Glory War X shortly - my stuff is mostly packed, and all that's left is a couple of errands on the way. Those of you reading this who have not yet left, Darbuka has moved to the upper hill - but you'll hear the drums...
See you there!
Those of you who notice such things might have seen my location change on my Blogger profile from the Barony of Caerthe to the Barony of Caer Galen a few weeks ago.
In 'reality,' this was a short distance of about 30 miles, but the work of moving is not yet over. After much renovation (and more to go!) on my new place, I am ready for a break. Still living out of boxes after six weeks, and the paint fumes are starting to affect me...but this time next week, I shall be basking in the warm Outlands sun at Glory X!
Our usual Darbuka 'hill campsite' is relocating to a less windy location with more trees!
My 'angry red tent' will be there, but in use as our kitchen, instead of living area. The new 'Moody Blue' tent is larger, to accommodate both mine and my lord's pile of SCA stuff. I am trying (seriously!) to pare down my SCA possessions, and will probably be taking a box or two of stuff to sell, so come find me if you want to see my wares.
And now to bust out the really cool news. I applied for, and received, a beta account with Mogulus. This means I am streaming a LIVE channel of videos that you can watch any time you want! Anachronista is taking over the airwaves! Watch some now!
Now THAT'S hot. Taken in Darbuka Camp at Glory War just mere weeks ago, this clip features Julia DiVerdi (aka Baroness Mardanah) of TribalTique!
Now that I can post and embed videos for free, you'll be seeing more of the last five years worth of digital camera blackmail...I mean video clips that have just been sitting on my hard drive.
All waiting to be birthed into the wilds of the internet.
Fly, my pretties!! Fly!
Well, Glory was, of course, Glorious! Though we experienced some rain and some wind, it was never really all that bad. There were deer, weasel and wild turkey sightings, but no bad encounters with the local wildlife.
As for official stuff, let's see...Cookie has been awarded his AoA, and Marcos was given his Silver Tyne. And I finally got to see the Drum Battle! All that grunting and heaving done by Donovan and Aleksy to get the war wagon on the trailer was well worth the results.
In Darbuka, we were one of the few camps allowed to have fire, which made things much, much more festive. We were THE party every night! Thankfully, an orange Duke gifted us with a plethora of libations for the Darbucket. Upon returning to my tent during one party, I was shocked to discover that 12 people can fit in it. That's a lot of people in one tent. Not as bad as the big Bedouin during the Henna party, though....
If I hadn't had to walk to the Smiling Bull for dinner and the White Rose for breakfast, I probably would never have left camp. Well, maybe once or twice to see the merchants.
I got to be one of the last privledged few to leave site. It was weird, on Tuesday morning, waking up to almost no one left. The day turned into a fun-filled breaking-down-the-camp day that was honestly the best time I've ever had while attempting to leave an SCA event. I think Aleksy finding the last two beers in our cooler had a bit to do with my perception though.
Yeah, go ahead and laugh. I'm a cheap date.
Anyways, the mundane world kept on moving while I was away. Here's some things I scraped off the underbelly of the internet for you.
Much ado about Google.
I swear, Google is really trying to take over the planet. I've already gotten completely hooked on Google Earth. Now I can google forsoothly with Google Shakespeare!
Caer Galen satirical history!
As if there were any other kind. But seriously, speaking of verses....The Sporadic Verses gives readers a glimpse into the minds of those early creative authors of the area, who obviously had waaaaay too much free time. The Verses have achieved nearly a cult status, as evidenced by there being a role-playing game created to support the fans.
There are other cool things in Wyoming besides Glory.
You may know of my love for gypsy wagons. Maybe not. Someday, when I'm rich and/or famous, I will own at least one of these awesome gypsy wagons. Make sure you click on 'interior photos'. Can you imagine that all tricked out SCA style? If I'm lucky enough to become very, very rich, I'll buy a bunch and rent them out at events.
No, I haven't died. I've been very, very caught up in mundane life lately, and trying not to let it all overwhelm me. When somebody figures out cloning, please let me know. I want another few of me.
It seems like there's always too much to do in the summer, and part of me always has regrets about the invitations I have to decline because I'm already double or triple booked that weekend.
Aye, well. Mundania is there to be escaped from. There's just too many choices!
Thankfully, I was able to coincide a visit to my family last weekend with a trip to Club Dragonsspine. Oh, how that basement has changed! What once was a concrete room, roughed in with 2x4s (and a haven for spiders) is now a sexy, swanky tiki lounge complete with pool table and a better stocked bar than one usually finds in the basement of a non-descript house in suburbia.
Present at the club were of course many Dragonspinians...and a displaced Outlander living in Atenveldt, returned for a visit. Homesick I suspect. I would be.
And yes, I managed to get a couple of rounds of NostaRovias going. As practice for Glory. Right.
It should be awe-inspiring and more fun than I've had since...uh...Estrella War, probably. Plus, this will be my first real camping event with Alexsy.
He got to go to Uprising in Artemisia without me, and apparently fit right in like someone born and raised SCA. I languished at work, with twinges of jealousy. Grrrrr. Why does there have to be black-out dates on vacation time from work??
On his return, he soothed my pout with a lovely silver camel pin. Can somebody say "huzzah" for me?
Like I always say...you can never have too many camels.
I am sincerely upset that I do not have access to the internet yet. At least I've gotten the XBox working. I REALLY miss Second Life, though.
Currently using Donovan's dial up, so I've avoided posting on this blog because...it...takes...forever....to...load. Ah, well. beggars can't be choosers.
BUT, I've moved into my new apartment in Loveland, and the connection will hopefully happen sometime soon after 4th of July weekend, so you can all rejoice. No, really. Rejoice, I say! REJOICE!! Wow, I really need to stop drinking coffee.
On that note, I'll be gone this weekend to Glory, which is one of my favorite Outlands events. Look for me in Darbuka camp, and come out for our Hafla on Saturday night!
I'm bringing my Nostarovia set...
Well, the ka-ching I just spent on fixing my car wiped out my budget for SCA for the next month at least. No Sworded Affaire, Carnivale, or Grand Outlandish for me. Ok, MAYBE Coronation. Purely in the interest of journalism.
I WILL make Glory War and Rogue Camp. Ok, technically Rogue Camp is not an SCA event. It's XCA - Xtreme Creative Anachronism. Yeah, I made that up. If you are not invited you can't go. Sorry.
So all you SCA'ers, you got ONE CHANCE to see me this summer. Glory. I'll be in Darbuka or Shadowstag. Dancing, fencing or drinking. Or combinations thereof.
Somebody better bring me a NostaRovia.
