Fire at the Faire!

Seen here is Adam Crack, current holder of 7 Guinness world recorders for working with a whip. His show was just one of the many going on at the St. Louis Renaissance Faire this past weekend.


Renaissance Faires are interesting places because you see many people dressed in regular clothes and then you see an equal number of folks dressed up as everything from fantasy characters, to historically accurate nobility, to sci-fi characters. Besides the Dr. Who's we also saw at least one character from Avatar. This is another one of the perfect pan-geek events that gives people a chance to dress up, have fun, and meet like-minded folks.


Faires are far more than a chance to pick up jewelry and see a jousting match. There are actors walking around who interact with you, parades, and once you get in there are shows going all day with everything from very bawdy singing to fare like Adam Crack's work with fire. The artists and artisans add a nice touch as you can see them working on various projects and sometimes get to try out the crafts they are doing.

A first for me in the many years I have been going to Faires (maybe I've missed these types of booths?) was a booth hosted by a chemistry honour society. It was a working alchemy lab, with of course a beaker over a flame. Two different chemists talked about the history of alchemy and showed how to do some experiments like changing the colour of a penny. The picture on left is part of the inside of the alchemist lab. And of course there was fire, which he is attending to in the photo.





To see some of the faire check out this video I quickly edited today:


There are a few more videos (some of fire!) at the Chronic Geek youtube.

Finally, to see more photos check out the Chronic Geek Flickr.

St. Louis Ren Faire

This weekend I spent two days transported to another dimension, a place where many time periods and people come together and at times accurately and at other times anacrhonistically recreate the Renaissance.

Your highlight, for now, is the appearance of these two Time Lords! Yes, I was hoping beyond hope that I would run into at least one Doctor and here we have two. Huzzah!

Like the Flash to St. Louis

I had to take a quick trip to St. Louis today for an appointment and on the way home our route took us by two comic book stores. Naturally, stops had to be made.

Until today I hadn't been to The Fantasy Shop, but I'm glad I stopped by their location on Manchester. Here's a shot of the back entrance (I was happy to find free parking. I'm sort of parking scarred after previously living in LA).

I was there to buy comic books, but of course the gaming aspect had me hooked when I got inside. The selection of pen-and-paper RPG books was amazing. I spied the superhero RPG series Mutants and Masterminds which will be forming the basis of the new DC RPG line and had a quick look through the system, but there was more to see. Everything from gaming gear like dice to a nice selection of board games. The store was a good size, but not huge, and it was full of a lot of great items without seeming even a bit crowded or overwhelming. I was constantly finding great things and the arrangement of the store lead to easy browsing. I didn't even make it through the back issues or the t-shirts because I was distracted by the wall of comic books!

The best thing you can say about any store of this nature is, "I had fun while I was in there" And I did! I also picked up some goodies, of course.

The one thing I was searching for was the new Birds of Prey. Due to a mix-up I wasn't able to get my copy of it Wednesday. Well, this series has been a HOT item. I've seen numerous updates online of it selling out all around the country. It was no different in St. Louis. This location didn't have any. The manager graciously offered to have a copy delivered from another store, but since I was only in St. Louis for today that wouldn't work. He gave me directions to Star Clipper, a store I had been to before, but I wasn't sure how to get to from Manchester.

We left the store with intentions of returning on our next trip to St. Louis. Outside the sky was turning the dull blue of a very grumpy storm system, but we soldiered on. It turned out to be insanely easy to drive from Manchester over to Delmar.

Our last stop was Star Clipper.
Once again, this is a store that makes you feel happy. It's a very different vibe than the gaming/comic combo that I am more used to, but it's full of an very extensive selection of graphic novels, comic books and fun items. There was a veritable wall shrine to the Scott Pilgrim series and it was a delight to behold.

At last, I picked up a copy of BIRDS OF PREY! My mission was complete. We drove home in a torrential mess, but it was well worth it.