Thoughts and stories

[fbhjr]

Over all this weekend went very well, and far better than I had feared.

These are just some of the things that have stuck in my memory.  Some of
them I’ve mentioned elsewhere, some I haven’t.
They’re not in any particular order, it’s just the way I remember them.

I like American Airlines more than Delta.  Two years ago when snow canceled
my flight from Delta, their answer was “you should have planned ahead
better”.  With American, they rescheduled me automatically and made a point
of picking a transfer airport out of the range of the storm.

The bad side of American is they seem to think their passenger planes are
fighter planes.  I’ve never been in a dive like that on a passenger plane
before, and I’ve flown a lot.  You know its bad when it scares the air
flight attendants.
I know the pilot probably didn’t want to descend in thunderstorms, so
waited until we went over them to drop rapidly to the landing height.  But,
you can go around, drop down and then circle back.  Both of the Monday
flights I was on did just that.  Go pas the airport, drop down, circle back.
And, it was the lack of warning that really got to me.  It's if the pilot
said "we're going to have to do some abrupt moves to avoid these storms".
It's another thing to have the air flight attendant picking up used cups
when you just dive and prompt her to grab something and say “oh shit!”.
That makes folks, like me, worry that this wasn’t a planned decent.
But, it all worked out.

While on the travel thing, seeing people get trapped in the subway at the
Atlanta airport really disturbs me.  It was like something out of a horror
movie.  A train full of people not able to get out.  Most subways I’ve been
on had a way to force open the doors, I guess not these ones.

Of course, the bad was Saturday and the rain.  There were times it almost
let up followed by total downpours.  It was one of those pervasive rains
that you just can’t get out of no matter where you go.  It is always a
little bit damp everywhere.
By the time we were done with dinner on Saturday some of the sword had
orange spots on them.
We spent the review meeting Saturday night with everyone helping to polish
them.

In good news, I am amazed that 400 people came out to the show in the rain
Saturday.  On Sunday we had more people.
Just after our second show Sunday one of the organizer’s people ran up to
us and said “There are 1500 people trying to get through the gate now and
we need some folks to go and entertain them while they wait.”
So, Jose and I went out to entertain them.  The two lines went off about
1/8 of a mile in each direction.  But, they moved so fast that a couple of
times Jose and I had to moonwalk backwards to talk to people.

I’m very happy that our show went over well enough that folks came back to
see it more than once.  Sunday a young woman told me she was going to our
show again because she had been the “gluttony girl” the day before.
A show based on the 7 deadly sins has some risk as if the audience doesn’t
know what they are they probably won’t be interested.  But, the deep south
is a good place to find an audience that knows them, so it worked.  (That
movie a few years ago didn’t hurt.)

But, not everyone knows them.  I told the faire organizer we were doing a
show based on the 7 deadly sins and he said “wait, sodomy isn’t one of
them, is it?”
I assured him it wasn’t.  Although wanting it (lust) is…

I’m not sure what was going on at the Ryan’s buffet restaurant.  I think
the cashiers up front must hate the folks who work the tables.
When we showed up with a dozen people the young woman at the register said
“I’ll just put you all down for sweet tea for your drinks as it will be
easier.  Just tell your waitress what you really want.”
The woman who actually waited on our table was clear this was only easier
for the person at the register and it would have been MUCH easier for her
to have a written list of what to get folks.
After we paid, I asked “how should we go about seating all 12 of us
together?”
I walked over to one of the back rooms.  One waitress was crying, another
trying to comfort her, and a third shouting insults at one of the managers.
We sat ourselves.
Finally, when I paid, the woman at the register said “do you want some cash
back for a tip?”
“Can’t I just charge my tip now?” I asked.
“I’ll take care of it,” she said.  She charged me $5 more and gave me 5
ones.
“There, now you have a tip,” she said.
$5 for a group of 12?  Granted a buffet, but she still ran back and forth
for our drinks the whole time, took our plates away and got silverware for
someone.
That would have been a 3% tip.  Personally I think that too low, even for a
buffet place.
But, maybe that’s why one waitress was crying and another cursing.
I left more.

Even at the crab place we went to Sunday it seemed strange.  When they
brought me the bill, the waitress said “I’m very sorry, but the computer
automatically adds an 18% tip on parties of more than 6 and there are 10 of
you.”
“No problem,” I told her, handing our tips for the day and my credit card.
“Charge what’s left after the cash and raise the tip to 20%.”
“Really?” she asked.
So, maybe folks down there don’t get many tips?

Over the 10 years and 42 days of performance we have done in Pensacola and
Mobile, we have developed some fans.  And, we have managed to get some
folks interested in historical sword fighting.
One guy came up to me Saturday and lamented that his emails to me kept
bouncing back, so he hadn’t been able to get the name of those German
longsword manuals I use.
Given how the day was Saturday I brought out my iPhone and emailed him
right there to give him something to reply to that should get through.  It
worked and now he has a reading list from me.
A fellow who usually dresses in a very nice samurai outfit often comes over
and discusses sword fighting with us as he runs a dojo in Pensacola.  While
he did discuss some sword fighting he told us the real reason he comes to
these shows is to meet girls.  He told us his preferred type and requested
if we saw any to bring them to his attention.  (Skinny, pale with glasses.)
He is very polite and goes to great lengths to not try and be a know it
all, even though he does run his own dojo.  It was to the point where one
of our members asked me “why does he keep putting down the work he does
with the Japanese style?”  I explained that he is making sure he does not
come off as saying what he studies is inherently better than others.
And, he has read every book on European styles I’ve sent his way.  He will
often quote things out of them to me while we discuss sword strikes and
compare them with his styles.
On Sunday he did go over to the SCA sparing booth.
He totally kicked their asses.
He came up to me afterwards.
“Did you have a chance to see me spar with them?” he asked.
“Yes, you did quite well,” I replied.
“I was happy with the result as well,” he said with a big smile.

One German guy did visit out booth.  He does “Viking combat sparing in the
Russian style”.
He asked me if I knew that that meant.
“You spar with real swords and don’t wear safety equipment,” I said.
“Ja!  You do know!” he replied.
We did talk about some historical styles.  He said he was sad he could not
use them in what he does as they are just too dangerous to the person he is
sparing.
But, we did compare some arm locks and throws.  He know some I didn’t.  I
knew some he didn’t.  Both of us agreed they are fun.

And our favorite southern fans came to see us.  Michael, who is now 10,
says he can control the weather and we have seen signs that he is right.
Sunday I said to his father “you picked a good day to be here” .  He said
“it’s a good day because we brought Michael.”
He even looks a bit like that kid in the Twilight Zone.

Comments

[pallid-regina.livejournal.com]

"He told us his preferred type and requested
if we saw any to bring them to his attention. (Skinny, pale with glasses.)"

Don't forget "braces...because they are cute!"

That guy was awesome. I'm sad I missed watching him fight.

I loved our sin people, too, for the most part they got into it. Thank you, again, for making us a part of things!

[chris-warrior.livejournal.com]

wow. entertaining the entrance line, getting everyone fed, teaching about sin, helping a samurai date... when do you get time to, you know, fight with swords? ;)