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8/27/09

This week in MoneyPenny - Thursday August 8/27/2009

After being stuck at the helljob all week
MONEYPENNY is heading out on vacation
so we are posting up her shiznit for her
We hope to have a Beer with her soon

As always she hopes your weekend is tits.

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Michigan Renaissance Festival 2009

Well, it's that time again. That glittering festival of breastisses and beer is upon us. Everyone grab yer favorite silly hat and your best pair of flash dance ass-pants and head to Holly for the Michigan Renaissance Festival.

The Michigan Ren Fest has been delivering the medieval experience with flair since 1979 and this year we made it to opening day. The place runs rampant with cheeky humor and everyone gladly plays into it. The effort put into costumes and the level of commitment from Royal staff, performers and other participants is highly impressive. But even though grown adults are walking around covered in feathers and full body armor and wielding everything from longswords to pan flutes, this isn't a star trek convention. The air might be thick with comedy but the craftsmanship is no joke. Some of our finest local artists have disguised themselves as goofballs and put their best pieces up for sale at reasonable prices.



My favorite example is the Royal Glass Makers. Brothers Chris and Israel Nordin are well established Detroit artists with a long history in glass. Chris is a founder of the Furnace Design Studio in Dearborn http://www.furnacedesignstudio.com / . Israel a founder of the Detroit Design Center in downtown Detroit http://detroitdesigncenter.net / . Together, they have the best art demonstration in the whole place with a wicked-hot furnace and molten glass. They make unique, vibrant wares right before your eyes and have enough shimmering pieces to last all summer. I buy something new every year and now have a marvelous collection of lasting, functional art. We always show up drunk at the end of the day and they are always kind enough to let us think we won the "barter exchange". They make the best beverage vessels I've ever been witness to.

The festival has treasures for everyone. Whatever floats your, um, pirate ship. There is art of many mediums including ceramics, glass, metals, wood, leather and plenty more. The jewelry vendors have a variety of quality silver and semi-precious pieces that are fairly priced. Oils, incense, candy and henna, you name it. Wax hand? Of course. Feathered headdress? You got it. Okay, so some of this might be sounding a little silly or girly, but there's games and beer too. There's live jousting, with real horses! If someone you're with is having like, a "coolness crisis", get them a Guinness and take them over to the archery or the knife throwing. Making a fool of one's self while mishandling an ill-crafted weapon in public under the influence of alcohol can really lighten up a party-pooper. And if someone is being a real jerk, have them arrested and thrown in jail. Point and laugh as they humiliate themselves to earn their release. Note: This plan could backfire as your imprisoned friend can just pay to have you befall the same fate. However, if YOU are the kind of person that would pay to have a buddy thrown in jail at a renaissance fair, then you probably don't mind. You know who you are.

MCB's Shane Glenn is doing a series of photos from the Michigan Renaissance Festival and already has week 1 posted. Go check it out to see everyone playing along nicely. As always, Shane's pictures capture the day. The only photos missing are of Ded Bob. The super-charming wench that governs the Ded Bob puppet show merch-area informed us that Bob doesn't like free promotion and is too important to have his picture taken. So...you don't get to see a sock full of bones. Sigh...

Ren Fest 2009 just got started and is already a smashing success. But beware! The beers go down easy at this place. It could result in singing and/or dancing at the request of strangers dressed in velvet. You might even find yourself eating one of those gnarly turkey legs by the end of the day. And if you've never been there before, DO NOT ask anyone in a costume where the bathroom is.

You've been warned...

Now go!
Summer is fleeting. http://www.michrenfest.com /
going on now till first weekend in October.

Huzzah!
Moneypenny