My Weekend's Geekery

On Saturday John and I went to a little toy-and-art convention here in Orlando called FX. Hardly anyone showed up, though, which made it a bust for all the vendors and artists - many of whom told us they wouldn't be showing up the next day, much less next year. Such a shame!

It was still fun to browse the two vendor rooms and artist alley, though, and I scored some super cheap 'Trek books, a little chain mail jewelry, and lots and LOTS more art - because clearly I have a problem. :D

I even found a few folks in costume:

Some hipster/Rockabilly princesses and, uh... this guy:

I really loved these girls' dresses:

I didn't realize that several of the local artists I just featured in this month's roundup were there, so it was a happy surprise to find both Nathan (who did the Merida art) and Charlie (Who-bacca) there, plus Bianca of the Puff Monsters fame. John and I ended up spending most of our time hanging out & chatting with everyone in the art room - not to mention getting inundated with a bunch of free art, no matter how much we protested. (Ok, so maybe I didn't protest TOO much...)

Here's Charlie holding up my very own original Who-bacca watercolor:

FOR ME!!

He also gave me a Hello Pony print for the art give-away board, though. See? We ALL win.

(I spent a lot of time begging him and Danny Haas to do more Who-bacca prints, btw, and I think I managed to convince them. WHO LOVES YOU GUYS? Eh?)

Charlie tells me he's going to be posting a bunch more of his kids' geek booklets this Friday, btw, and they always sell out within a day or two, so watch his Etsy shop.

John acquired his very first piece of Pony anything from Bianca Roman-Stumpff, who in addition to being a super-cool gal also does the most fabulous MLP art:

We all shared a little moment together. It was special. :)

You can only purchase Pony prints from Bianca in person, but if you head to her Etsy shop (which I'm proud to say I helped bully her into opening) you can score one of her wood cut-out Puff Monsters, like this guy:

 

Another of John's purchases. It's now proudly on display in his man cave.

I have even more artsy goodies, but I'll save those for next month's art roundup.

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On Sunday John and I headed out to Sarasota's Medieval Fair - a smaller, kinder, gentler version of the massive Tampa Bay Renaissance one.

My dreams of a cool and breezy Ren Fair were dashed by our blasted Florida heat, so we spent the afternoon sweating it out and looking for shade. We went with two Epbot readers, though - Michelle & Ralph - so that was pretty cool. (Pun intended. :))

I was a little too hot & lazy to chase down most of the costumes, but I did find the best dressed ladies of the Fair:

The gal in purple is my favorite. Check out that feathered headdress!

The lady in red is a close second, though:

I admit, I'm a little confused by the stuffed mice in the cleavage. 'Course, then I remembered reader Lynn B.'s photo of a fabulous TARDIS ren dress she spotted in Maryland recently:

So I can only assume storing pretty and/or cute things in cleavage is one of those things that separate Ren Fair geeks from Convention geeks. ;) (Also, I hope she removed the thorns first. OUCH.)

We spent a while watching the fencing matches, wherein they armed small children with swords and encouraged them to hack away at each other's heads:

The object was to pop those balloons. Here a mom gallantly stoops down to make it easier. :)

If you go to a lot of Ren Fairs then you're no doubt familiar with the Washing Women - who I hear have franchised now??

And that's the "Wheel of Death" on the right - bet he had a great view up there.

This gal had a fully articulated mouth that moved when she talked. It was amazing.

Overall it was a more pleasant atmosphere than at Tampa's, maybe because there was less drunken rowdiness. You were also less likely to be accosted by shop owners hamming it up in character - something we introverts tend to despise and avoid at all costs.

Instead, we found folks to be a little more subdued, and the ones in costume (and character) tended to stick to themselves and not harass anyone:

Charming game of jump rope (and later limbo):

I really liked this girl's flowery crown and face paint:

Before we completely melted in the heat we did catch the live jousting match, and I even managed to snag a good spot court side:

They made maybe a dozen runs, all told, and sent plenty of lance shrapnel flying.

At one point one of the knights took a tumble:

 


He was fine, though, and got up to do another few rounds.



The victor!

One last beauty shot of the winning knight:

And that does it for the Ren Fair! Hope you enjoyed your virtual visit, everyone!

"Bye bye, boys!"

"Have fun storming the castle!"

:D

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 GIVE-AWAY UPDATE:

And the winners of this month's art give-away are... Renee of "A Bibliophile's Life For Me" and Betty Martin! Congrats, ladies, and please e-mail me your mailing addresses & choice of art from the give-away board!