Faire friends have captured my soul and have tempted me to once again dance with the devil that is tribe. I welcome those that have wandered here. To follow the blue fairy you know you can always find me on yahoo as blufairybran. My complete photo and digital medium art gallery can be found on fotki.com my handle is Sandysaphire. My fellow e-HELL refugees and those still imprisoned at ehealthinsurance convinced me to create myspace OntheWallBrandis.

Name: Merridian
Ethnicity: Roma
Colors: Red, Maroon, Magenta, Rust, Gold, Brown, Cream

My character is half based on a character named Meridian from a short Novella written by Nicolas Serra. The other half based on a video game character I role played, the first-mate of the Undead Legion sailing as Ambassador under the Flag of the Dark illuminati on the Midnight Ocean. Her wardrobe was of crew colors bone, flesh, blood and plank, the sun rising on the horizon. They videogame already had Meridian taken so I added the R. Those who sailed with me just called me Merri. Oh take all that and stir it within the realm of possibility for the period.

With the increase of pirates and the poor reputation they are gaining at faire, I knew I wanted to stand out. Every where you turn at faire there is another out of period scurvy rat. I tried to decide what I could do to disassociate myself with the pack.

Many stick to the jolly rodger colors and the merchants seem to sell these colors for the sea farers. None of my main pieces are black or white. I have a pair of cream and black striped bloomers and a black highwayman coat as accents. Sometimes weather calls for substituting such items for comfort. I avoid putting greens blues and other cool colors into my outfit. But mainly No Black no white.

My goal is to show the pirate enthusiasts like me there is a right way to do faire as a pirate or gypsy type. Sometimes new comers like myself are skirting the costume rules out of lack of money or lack of having found that perfect piece just yet. I think half the adventure of faire is finding your character, collecting your worldly possessions and learning your place in the rag tag circus society that is faire.

Meridian herself? The one character that isn't particularly fleshed out... But let me see what I can come up with....

Meridian vey's Cerena (translated as Meridian, daughter of Cerena)was the founder of the pirate state of Meridian. At one point, Meridian (then called Lenial) had been a close ally to Dusan, a country driven solely by transport of goods. The sailors of Essen were trained in combat so they could aid in the defense of Dusanite ships. This worked very well for several decades, until the rulers of Dusan turned against their defenders. In secret, the Dusan government had constructed a fleet that they used to destroy the Lenial capital city.

Meridian led the charge against Dusan, destroying not only their port, but the majority of their merchant vessels as well. The war between Dusan and Meridian would run for centuries, even when both were provinces within the Cereneal Empire, founded by one of Meridan's distant cousin's.

Her time and cause of death are unknown. She disappeared some years after the war broke out, promising to return when she was needed again.

A theif
A harlot
A Quick tonged Tart
A heartbreaker
A bad Gambler
A flirt
Holds her own
A dagger specialist

She's Multi-faceted with an underlying softness, sadness, and joy. Combining several characters personalities and histories to make a complete single Faire character has that effect.


Flower picked to soon for fear it's beauty would fade and tarnish. Curiosity, peasant's pockets, and swift fingers lead to the begin of her wilting.

The prior companion to a slain un-mericiful zombi overlord now walking again with a new living crew. Each of them with human hearts beating fierce under cloaks and daggers black. She hooked up with Lord Dragossani on Winter Isle. It took slaying him to escape.

____ is going to _____ to _______ because they're so offended that you _________ to them? (fill in blanks. It's acting mad lib.)

1) You must get 10 customers an hour to know your name. 2) You must get 10 customers an hour to know your profession, and why you're here.

Figure out how to weave those facts into an interaction with the customer.

“list the stuff you would have done”

If you just interact with the public, what do you do that you're interacting with the public? How much of your day are you background? How much of your day are you actually speaking to a customer? How much engaged with another actor? Look at it from a percentages, and see where you spend your 8 hours in Brigadoon. If your answer is being background, how can you be better background? What should background do?

What deters me most about faire are those that would pick out something about a person a printed shirt, a brite color (things not found during the Ren. period), and then make comments.

Your patrons pay you to be part of the era, part of the imagination. Why would you want to take them back to reality? Show me the story, the scenery, that I to can take part in your grand fantasy.

The defense that this teaches what is expect of new members does not hold. Human instincts will drive one who loves the faire to want to join, to fit in with the best of the best, and uphold the image of the show. If you care enough to fall in love with faire to participate, in any small way, you should be welcome.

Audience abusing comics although popular, make my skin crawl. There are stand up comedians that pack houses nightly on their ability to beliddle the costumers. They are perfect at thinking on their feet, to point out flaws, emphasize them and make them comical. I put the audiences that like this sort of thing in the same sinking ship as someone in the back of a crowd watching a rape. Their hands weren't in it, but they didn't stop it.

Many of our faire traveling circus, much need the family environment. We come with many insecurities on our back; seeking, an outlet for our talents and our hearts. I am sad that our friends have not had the support they needed in life as of late. There have been far to many friends passing. Perhaps remember this when you make you judgmental comments. Our very souls are embedded in all of this.

"Roma" Trinket on Auction? -sadly no it's Roman

Italian Etruscan Revival bulla, souvenir of the Grand Tour, 19th C. Bloomed 18k yg, one side grapevine and laurel wreath motif, other side with wirework spelling "ROMA", hinged, interior glazed compartment for hair or miniature, granulations and wirework, 32.9 gs. GW. 2" x 1 3/8".

Bulla, an amulet and worn like a locket, was given to children, at the time of birth, in Ancient Rome. A bulla was worn around the neck as amulet to protect against evil spirits and forces. A bulla was made of differing substances depending upon the wealth of the family. A common substance was leather, but the richer families would have bullae of gold or silver, and poorer families' would be made of cotton.

A girl child continued to wear her bulla until the eve of her marriage, when it was removed and kept along with her childhood toys and other things. A boy used to wear a bulla until he became a Roman citizen. His bulla was carefully saved, and on some special occasions, like his becoming a general and commanding a parade, the bulla was taken out. He would wear the bulla during the ceremony to safeguard against evil forces like jealousy of men.

Bah!

Renaissance faires should offer education to our guests. This I agree with completely. Especialy our youngest patrons, they may be our audience today, but someone else must fill the gig eventually.

I agree that currently faire teaches very little and has the feel of a super mall. Somewhere in the fog of my brain is the image of the first time I went to faire. The field trip was organized by the history, art, and english departments.

We are preached to teach historical facts at faire. Many don't appeal to all of our students. Don't just encourage the writer and the history buff. If we want shows we need jugglers, and painters, and black smiths and a gambit of things that don't involve a book. The crafts must be taught and brought out more in faire. In a class what percentage of students get off on the facts alone and strive to learn more?

The child making giant bubbles may make our hand made soaps on day. Our show could be more if we did not attempt to thrust historical accuracy down their throats. Time love and dedication will bring out the best in us. Let's not be a cash generating fat sow. We were brought here lead by our hearts. Remember the sparks that paved your path and find them again for new generations that pass through your gates.

The rulebook says that the javelin is constructed of three parts: the head, the shaft, and the grip. The head has always been metal. The shaft was traditionally solid wood, but modern javelins are hollow steel. The grip consisted of leather wraps and a thong, but the modern grip is a cord wound tightly around the middle of the shaft. Throwers get most of their grip at the back seam between the edge of the cord and the shaft.

The origin of the javelin throw is usually attributed to the ancient Greek olympics, but many cultures have a long throwing spear for use in hunting wild game or for targeting enemy soldiers in battle.

Vocal excercises

Quite relaxing, and not terribly loud.
-Get a book, about 1 inch thick, and lay on your back, with the book under your head. Bring your knees up, so that your feet are flat on the floor, as this will relax the spine. (If you find this uncomfortable for your knees, use a chair, and place your lower leg on the chair, so that your kee forms a 90 degree angle-the same effect is acheived.)
-The hands may be placed on the diaphragm, or you may rest them gently at your sides.
-Relax into this position for a minute or so.

Begin your excercises by slowly breathing into the diaphragm. Lying in this position makes it very difficult to breathe into the shoulders. Concentrate on the breath as it enters and leaves.

Inhale, slowly. On the release of the breath, speaking from the diaphragm, count to... 1.

Repeat, slowly increasing the numbers with each exhalation- 1, 2
1, 2, 3
etc.
Remember, that this is not a race to see how many numbers you can get in- you should speak the numbers very slowly, rounding the sound in your throat as you exhale.

When you get up, remember to do so slowly, as you may become light-headed if you rise too quickly.
This breathing technique helps to focus breathing and speaking on the diaphragm, which can be difficult in a bodice.

Romani people
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Romani or Romany people (Devanagari: रोमानी, as a noun, singular Rom, plural Roma; sometimes Rrom, Rroma) or Romanies are an ethnic group living in many communities all over the world. The Roma are among the best known ethnic groups that appear in literature and folklore, and are often referred to as Gypsies or Gipsies, a term that is sometimes considered pejorative and is based on a mistaken belief of an origin in Egypt.[1] The term is, however, still in widespread official use, for instance in the UK. In actuality, the Roma have their origins in India.[2][3]

The Roma are still thought of as wandering nomads in the popular imagination, despite the fact that today the vast majority live in permanent housing.[4] This widely dispersed ethnic group lives across the world not only near their historic heartland in Southern and Eastern Europe,[5] but also in the American continent and the Middle East.

History

By the 14th century, the Roma had reached the Balkans; by 1424 CE, Germany; and by the 16th century, Scotland and Sweden. Some Roma migrated from Persia through North Africa, reaching Europe via Spain in the 15th century. The two currents met in France. Roma began immigrating to the United States in colonial times, with small groups in Virginia and French Louisiana. Larger-scale immigration began in the 1860s, with groups of Romnichal from Britain. The largest number immigrated in the early 1900s, mainly from the Vlax group of Kalderash. Many Roma also settled in Latin America.

When the Romani people arrived in Europe, curiosity was soon followed by hostility and xenophobia. Roma were enslaved for five
centuries in Romania until abolition in 1864.