Evil Knight for Hire

Today is me and Lette's anniversary (5 Years!) and it's funny, but I never realized before this year that it falls on Martin Luther King Jr day. We're unfortunately not spending the day together today (she's busy setting up for an art exhibition at her school today (her paintings look amazing) and we're both working this evening). We're hoping to do dinner tomorrow night instead since we'll both be free then.

I'm telling everybody!

http://fightguy.livejournal.com/116590.html

Leaving for our trip in like ten minutes.

2 days in NYC with colette's sister.
5 days in maryland w/ colette's mother and her friend's family, likely with at least one day trip into DC
2 days at The burrow on the way home

See some of you next weekend!

Bonnie started it, but this'll be my second year doing this.


Take the first sentence (or two) from the first post of each month of 2008. That's your year in review...

January: I had a really good day yesterday. I went to the first of my fight seminars with pastimes, and it felt so good to be out and fighting again.

February: So is anyone actually going to winterfeast this year? I just checked the lists, and with only four registration days to go there are only 4 names I recognize...this does not bode well for Lette and I deciding to go

March: So now that everything's all official and announced, I can tell everyone. The faire hired me to be fight director this year.

April: Once more my car is in the garage, though for once I took it there voluntarily. Now that my income is a little better and since faire season is coming up I figured now would be a good time to get whatever repairs are necessary done.

May: No entries in May

June: I am sorry everyone for not being at the wedding today, and most of all to Jenn. Lette and I wanted nothing more than to be there, but the 30 degree jump in temperature killed my car.

July: Fights are gonna fuckin rock this year...that pretty much sums up my feelings right now. We finished writing our last three fights yesterday (the axe fight, chain fight, and the final fight) which were the three hardest so we saved them for last.

August: No entries in August

September: Haven't posted in a long while, since before fight workshop in fact. Summer was strange this year, first time in my life I have not gone home for the summer, and it still feels a little weird to think Lette and I have been out on our own for over a year now.

October: The big 3 day weekend is behind us and given how exhausted I was by the end, I'm definitely thankful for that. It'll be good to have a nice standard weekend to end on so that we all have full energy for the last day.

November: I have been rather lax about updating of late...and by that I mean I haven't said anything since halfway through the run of faire. Life has been...hectic. I couldn't have been happier with the way CTRF played out this year from the fight end of the production.

December: I bought lunch on the way to class today at a little sandwich shop, and decided to eat outside in the park since it's actually rather nice here in the city today. I had been there for a few minutes when a squirrel approached me and sat staring at me for a minute, it then jumped up on the park bench beside me.

and says, "hey, are you gonna eat that?"

I bought lunch on the way to class today at a little sandwich shop, and decided to eat outside in the park since it's actually rather nice here in the city today. I had been there for a few minutes when a squirrel approached me and sat staring at me for a minute, it then jumped up on the park bench beside me. Sitting next to me was a container of french fries which had come with the sandwich, the container was on top of the paper bag everything had come in. The squirrel, all the while avoiding making eye contact with me slowly reached out one hand and began pulling the bag toward himself a little bit at a time. I reached out and pulled it back. He slowly started working it toward him again, and I pulled it back. This went on for some time. Finally I picked up the bag and moved it to the other side of me, I then handed him a single fry, which he took and happily ate for a minute. He then ran over and climbed onto my leg (no shit, ON MY LAP)and began to tug at my shirt and make little whistling sounds at me. At this point I was pretty much done (and I didn't want to piss off the wild rodent sitting on me) so I dumped out what was left of the fries for him and left.

Anyway, I've got to give a presentation in two hours, and then I still have 2 classes to go to before I can go home for the day. Ugh, the semester is practically over, but it's dragging terribly at this point.

I am sorry everyone for not being at the wedding today, and most of all to Jenn. Lette and I wanted nothing more than to be there, but the 30 degree jump in temperature killed my car. It was too late to have it fixed in time, we're not old enough to rent a car, and we don't know anyone in the city to borrow a car from. I hope you all had a wonderful time, and that Zanne passed on my apology. Congratulations Jenn, enjoy your honeymoon, I've got plenty of fight stuff in store for you when you get back. I think you're going to be very happy this year.

Thanks to Kaylee for taking, and Julie for posting this pic from Trudpert's. Also of note, I'm posting this from my new laptop.

I spent the morning sitting through two classes in which lots of scientific bullshit was discussed, but nothing was really said. I had planned to spend the afternoon working on a presentation I'm giving next week. About twenty minutes before the end of my last class I decided I'd had enough for the day after listening to a discussion about quantum mechanics and the wave theory of motion. I left and now I plan to take a walk across the city, get lunch and probably a drink and go to the aquarium. Random I know, but watching animals relaxes me and I haven't been there for a long time. I am so done with science for the day. Homework can wait til monday when I have the day off.

Off to enjoy the spring.

-dust

I keep meaning to post and then never having the time to do it. Life has just been working out lately so that whatever time is not taken up by work and school is required to complete all of the lab reports and other things I need to write up. Things are going well however, and school will be out in just over a month. I've stopped hosting at Legal Sea Foods and am now serving full time, which is a welcome return to what I'm used to. I'm still not accustomed to being tipped for such expensive meals, so I keep being pleasantly surprised.

Also, I've been thinking more and more about faire as auditions draw closer (less than two weeks now). I've got some many ideas for things that I want to do with the fighters this year, but nothing I can finalize until the casting is finished. I really hope we pick up some new talent this year, and that we get a good showing from everyone during the auditions. It's going to be really odd for me to be involved in the casting discussions this time around, but I'm glad I get to advocate for the fighters I want. Speaking of which, if there's anyone who has not fought before but is considering it I urge you to say you're willing at auditions, there are so many good parts that one simply cannot get cast in without being willing to commit a little staged violence.

Having read the synopsis I foresee good things for the coming season, both in general and for fighters specifically. My only real personal debate at the moment is what part I should audition for myself. I'm going to be a wreck for the next two weeks as I know I will be thinking about the show constantly.

Well, I've got to head off to work now, but I look forward to seeing nearly all of you very soon. With love as always,

Dustin

Check this out, the majority of the clip is eric talking about the faire, but there's a little bit of an interview I did as Liam tacked on at the end.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=J_YAlFppjmM

This one also has some nice bits of fights in it, and again a little Liam at the very end.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=mG8NbOXyUJE

And no, this isn't what I was so excited about in the last post. I'll tell you as soon as I can, I promise.

I had a really good day yesterday. I went to the first of my fight seminars with pastimes, and it felt so good to be out and fighting again. It was a choreography and performance based class about how to set up and act in one vs a group fights. It's something we don't do at CTRF a lot, much to my dismay, mostly because we are so family friendly and thus reluctant to have characters killed off in shows. No one's died since viking years and that was four seasons ago. Anyway, I learned some neat stuff and I got to use my fighting knife that I picked up at the end of the run. Then lette and I went out spontaneously into the city. We went and saw a free Imax that we had tickets for at the museum of science, and then we went out to eat at P.F. Changs and finally saw Sweeney Todd which I thoroughly enjoyed (having absolutely no foreknowledge of the story). Today is the first day back to school, or at least it would be if there wasn't eight or ten inches of snow, so I'm enjoying one last day off.

Oh, and I finally caught up with the times and bought WOW, so those who play send me your info and perhaps I'll look you up once I get the hang of the game.

Happy birthday, little sister. You will be at twelfth night I trust?

Hey all you fight people out there (and those who would like to give it a try...willows090 I'm looking at you, especially those near boston, Pastimes is holding their midwinter fight seminars again, and I think it would be a good experience for anyone who can make it. Also if you need housing to come up for a weekend or two, Lette and I would be happy to provide such for you. The information is below, and If you're interested you should email Cliff to sign up soon:

http://www.voy.com/116936/6147.html

Hope to see you guys there, I'll be at the sunday morning seminars and one of the saturday ones.

This past weekend, Lette's mom and her sister came down and stayed with us because it was Nicole's (her sister) birthday on friday. I didn't see much of them on Saturday (I worked all day) but Sunday morning we went out and saw Beowulf in 3D likely at the same place questionmark23 and pennhothwen saw it later that same evening. I enjoyed it though I felt really bad for Grendel. I'd be pissed off too if I had a giant exposed ear drum and some Danes built a giant hall which lined up directly with my cave and then got drunk and yelled all night. Not the deepest or best movie I've ever seen, but one hell of an action sequence (the dragon). Lette's family headed back for Maine after first retrieving their car (they got towed because they parked where they aren't allowed, because our building has no visitor parking) and we went and met up with Russell to go see the play.

I thought it was well put together, with lots of strong performances and moments that really rang true. I think the style was a little all over the place and unrefined, but that's to be expected in experimental theater. The fights, especially the unarmed work, looked good and I was happy with how everything came out.

The semester is rapidly winding to a close and winter is beginning to set in (it snowed today). I'm a little frustrated because I have to work on Christmas so I'll be driving back from maine that morning after spending the Eve with my family. I doubt I'll get to see my father's family at all. Also my car developed another issue the other day (damn you previous owner for not doing ANY maintenance on the car for seven years) as the entire brake lines were rusted through. I had them replaced for a large sum of money, which coupled with rent and the upcoming cost of my tattoo will leave me pretty broke for awhile.

One thing I've got to look forward to is that just after New Years Lette and I are going on a trip. Her mom is visiting friends in Maryland and we're going along. We plan to spend most of our time making daytrips out to DC and other things of interest (if anyone knows of anything cool down there let us know). Best of all, we're finally going to be stopping in at the Burrow for the Twelfth Night weekend; I hope to see many of you there.

Anyone who may be in or around the boston area over the next four days is thoroughly encouraged to got see the Suffolk University Theater Department's production of Shrapnel an original play by Wesley Savick, featuring fight choreography by yours truly. The play is very non traditional and free form in exploring the concept of war and its effects on both soldiers and civilians.

November 15th-17th at 8pm and November 17th-18th at 3pm.
Tickets are FREE, but reservations should be made in advance (black box theater only seats forty-fifty people). Call 617-573-8282 and leave a message under "general inquiries". Those with reserve tickets must arrive 10 minutes prior to showtime.
The play will be held in the Studio Theater on the 4th floor of the Archer building on Temple St in Boston (directly behind the state house).

Since Guenevere asked so nicely; six things that make me happy right now:

-Having not one, but two fight directing jobs within the next three weeks

-Lette

-Free fish for dinner three nights a week

-faire tomorrow (a common answer I suspect)

-My awesome act for the talent show

-Finally having some good ideas for what I might want for my tatoo.

I don't have time to do the html, but I pick lettie26, mistresfuzytail, mudqueen, crowmomma, firestar27, and game_freak_333

-off to class...

Comments screened.

1. Do you have a tattoo?
2. How old are you?
3. Are you single or taken?
4. Fish?
5. Do you dream in colour?
6. Ever seen a corpse?
7. How about them hipsters?
8. How did we meet?
9. What's your philosophy on life and death?
10. If you could do anything with me, and have no one know, what would it be?
11. Do you trust the police?
12. Do you like musicals?
13. What is your fondest memory of me?
14. If you could change anything about yourself what would it be?
15. Would you cheat?
16. What are you wearing?
17. Have you ever peed in a pool?
18. Would you hide evidence for me if I asked you to?
19. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?
20. Which do you prefer - short or long hair?
21. What's your favorite day of the week?
22. What's your favorite color?
23. If you could bring back anyone that has passed, who would it be?
24. Tell me one interesting/odd fact about you?
25. What was your first impression of me?
26. Have you ever done drugs?
27. Will you post this so I can fill it out for you?

Hey everybody, first day back to college and my first class is canceled til friday, so I've got some time to kill. Things on the apartment front are going well, with the walls painted and everything moved in it's starting to feel like a real home, and so far everyone is getting along well. Lette's been taking pictures, so expect to see them soon. Potato is getting more used to the place after having been a bit out of sorts at first (he took more than 10 seconds to eat his supper). We've got a list of little things we need to hit up the landlord to have fixed, but nothing too major.

Last night we drove up to Lette's grandmother's in hamilton for dinner (salmon and colcannon) and then to North Shore Music Theater to see their musical version of The Three Musketeers. Overall I enjoyed the show immensely, though it was a little difficult for me because I went in with very high expectations (3M is one of my favorite pieces of literature). Some characters were done to perfection, I loved Athos and Rochefort (my two favorite characters from the novel) and D'artagnan and Planchet were good as well (though they dropped the other lackeys from this version). Aramis, Constance, and the moajority of the other characters were all well done, but had nothing that really made them stand out (except that Aramis looked like that black guy who does the Army commercials).

I was disappointed with Porthos, the Cardinal, and Milady. Porthos was used mostly for comic relief and bordered on being a fop at times, also the actor playing him was obviously not a fighter and so his only fight scene, everything was very basic (more on fights later). The Cardinal was a non character, almost literally. I was so excited when he first came in, long red robe, flowing white hair, steel pauldrons and gorget (I kid you not, he had armor) not to mention that the guy playing him was probably taller than Stephen. And he never spoke a word in the entire show, he was there mostly as a symbol, and even then only in a handful of scenes. And then there was Milady, she was a good actress and her performance really picked up in the second act, but she just didn't have that cold soulless nature that anyone who has read the book expects of her. She was too human.

And the fights, you all had to know I would talk about this at length, improved greatly as the show went on. The first two were pretty unimpressive, lots of Hollywoods and fairly basic swordplay. Also the few times in the show they did any sort of unarmed combat were done with a huge safety margin and looked like crap (i think there was one punch (poorly knapped) and two knees to the stomach in the whole show and all were in the first ten minutes). The more shows I see, the more it seems like rennies are the only ones willing to do contact hits in fights. Then came the duelling scene (the one between D'artagnan and Athos that turns into Musketeers vs Cardinal's Guards) and things got better. Athos, D'Artagnan, Rochefort, and many of the extras were obviously trained fighters and their fights were all good (exception being Porthos who was doing cut 1, cut 5a, cut 1, cut5a...). Toward the end of act one there was another good fight between D'artagnan and Buckingham and Rochefort. I really enjoyed it as Buckingham used a cloak as his off-hand weapon (something I've never actually seen done despite having heard much about it). In act two there were only two fights, but they were each very well done for what they were. The first was simply Milady trying to kill D'artagnan with a dagger and it was very minimalist 4 or 5 moves at most, which is exactly what it should have been. I was afraid they were going to make it into a full on fight, which would have been out of character for both of them. Then toward the very end of the show the was a case rapier fight between D'artagnan and Rochefort, which was definitely the best thing in the whole show for me. I don't think I've ever seen a rapier fight done better and there were lots of things I saw in it that I'm totally stealing (pardon, homaging) next time I write a rapier fight. Oh, for those non swordplay geeks who may be reading this, case rapier is a style wherein a sword is used in each hand, and I do love watching it though I've yet to have the chance to do it.

That's enough for now. I've got another class coming up in a bit. We'll see if this one actually happens.

dust-

So I know it's been a while since I wrote any waiting stuff for you guys. I've been working almost every night over the last few weeks and have fallen behind in my journal. However, last night people were so miserable that I felt inspired to write again. Not all of these are from last night, though many are.

-If you go out to eat, ask for a lobster bib, and then don't order lobster...you are a slob. I had a woman who needed a bib because she was so fat she was sitting a good two feet from the table and was likely to drop food on herself.

-I hate people who won't eat off of oval plates..."Excuse me this is a serving plate, not a dinner plate"...it's flat and it's got your food on it, what does the shape matter?

-Also, couples where one person takes out money for the bill and the other says, oh don't give him that much...when I'm near enough to hear them.

-People who are super picky about their food and don't make this clear from the beginning. Last night I had a girl in a party of seven who wanted baked scallops with only lemon juice on them, but what she said was not breadcrumbs and no white wine. Well unfortunately that still leaves butter and parsley. Then instead of telling me, she let it sit on the table for 15 minutes before her mother asked me to cook another one. This girl also took a drink of her sister's soda and insisted it was her diet sprite (it was a diet coke...picture if you will the respective colors of coke and sprite, enough said.)

-People that send you back and forth to the kitchen a dozen times because they aren't organized enough to know what they need.

-People who stand and/or push back their chairs without looking. I don't know how many times I've dodged someone doing this while carrying a full tray on one hand/shoulder (often that table's food).

-People who exaggerate how long they have been waiting. I had a table that was there less than 5 minutes and instead of politely asking one person to find their waiter, they asked every single person that walked by their table saying they had been there nearly 20 minutes. I think they may have been counting the time they were on the waitlist at the door, which is totally unfair, that has nothing to do with me.

And now two less hateful observations.

-People from Florida don't know what baseboard radiators are. Apparently the houses there don't have them.

-Canadians are going to be extinct within the next 15 years. Why you ask? Because I believe they have lost the ability to reproduce naturally. Their solution? Adopt little Chinese girls. I swear I see as many if not more Canadian families with Chinese girls as I do with their own children. This will result in an French speaking, Oriental, Amazon-like culture spread across the whole of Canada. Of course they won't be deadly spear wielding Amazons, more like quiet, unobtrusive, glasses and sweaters wearing Amazons.

-Oh, and that reminds me. I can understand little kids not wanting to talk to the waiter, especially when he's six feet tall and has a fiendish goatee, but if you're older than say 8 you need to stop addressing things to your mother and speak the hell up.

-And that further reminds me! When a waiter asks you a question, even if it's "How are you doing today?"...ANSWER THEM! We're not vending machines, you have to speak to us as if we were people. Nothing I hate worse than going up to a table and having no one even look up from their menus or say a word.

The only consolation in all this is that in restaurant work, the nights when it is ungodly busy and you run all night and get abused by your tables and the hostess are generally the best financially. I walked out with just shy of two hundred dollars last night, so I'm in a good mood. We'll see how tonight goes.