10 October, 2008 by The Healer.

It’s time for another pre-faire rundown.  It’s another Pirate Jamboree!  Our new roving reporter and resident pirate cook, Mum, will be attending the PA Renaissance Faire’s Pyrate Invasion this weekend.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with the PA Faire, it is set during the reign of Queen Elizabeth and, like the Maryland Faire, they have a different theme each weekend.  The faire is located on the beautiful Mount Hope Winery in Manheim, PA.  So come down and meet us, matey!

~Christopher Baldi “The Healer”~

~October 9, 2008~

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6 October, 2008 by Carol.

Capping off a busy week, Chris and I traveled to the much-anticipated Collingswood Book Festival.  My favorite part about this festival is always the Town Book.  As usual, it was something I probably wouldn’t have picked up on my own.  This year’s selection was The Stolen Child, by Keith Donohue, a novel that delves into the concept of identity while the narrative follows a band a changling fairies and one of their own who has taken the place of another.  The festival hosted a book discussion last Tuesday and the author was there on Saturday to give a presentation and autographs.

We ended up bringing home more books than we have space for, as usual.

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3 October, 2008 by The Healer.

Despite the rainy weather, our roving pirate reporter MUM the pirate cook attended the Adventure Pirate Weekend at the Maryland Renaissance Festival and filed this report.

Arrr! Ye can drench me bones but ye can’t soak me spirit.This weekend was the pirate Adventure Weekend at theMaryland Renaissance Festival.This is always one of me favorite times of the year and even though the ground was muddy and the sky kept dumping on us intermittently I was not disappointed.All me favorite acts were there, from the Pyrates Royale, to the Hooligans to the O’ Danny Girls and, even when the rain was pouring, the acts continued and got even more rowdy for the weather. Then there was the peasant bread. For those of you who do not know, peasant bread is a fried piece of dough that has been stretched thin. The result is a crunchy wafer that can be used to hold fruit topping, honey, sugar, or just be lightly salted. Reminds me of a dish me grandmother used to make. Finally the day ended as always with a rowdy pub sing at the White Hart Tavern. Well that’s about it me lads, another fine celebration of piracy - I can’t wait till next year.

Well, thanks for that report MUM and we hope to hear more from you in the future during other pirate events.

~Chris Baldi “The Healer”~
~September 30, 2008~

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26 September, 2008 by The Healer.

As promised I’m back with another installment of the Faire and Con Report.  This time I am hear with a preview of our next faire, the Maryland Renaissance Festival.  For our readers that have not visited this one, here is the rundown of this larger faire’s stats.  This faire is set during the reign of King Henry the Eighth and every year features a story about his reign.  However, that’s not the only theme; each weekend has its own subtheme and performing acts and shows related to that subtheme.  The faire itself is located in a comfortably shady glen in Anne Arundel County in Crownsville, Maryland.

This year I am proud to announce that our resident pirate and newest roving reporter MUM the pirate cook will be attending the fair the weekend of September 26 to join in the Adventure Weekend and celebrate all things piratical.  This fair is always one of our favorite fairs and this year is sure to be no different so if you’re in the neighborhood come out and see it.   
~Chris Baldi “The Healer”~
    ~September 26, 2008~

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24 September, 2008 by The Healer.

As I mentioned in the last Faire and Con Report, we were off to the Village Renaissance Faire in Wrightstown, Pennsylvania last Saturday. We had another fine sunny day for the trip and were glad to see that this fair just keeps growing. This year the children’s area was even larger, with castle blocks, a bubble table, a music area and balance platforms for foam sword fighting on. Round Table Jousting with our friends from Period Productions put on another fine jousting show which ended in a little intrigue and was quickly followed by a bar brawl at the tavern. But the real gem of the show was Shakespearean chess where Shakespeare’s tragedies took on his comedies. This was done brilliantly, using the lines from the individual plays as the dialog on the field and the starting rundown of the plays was very funny. Then there was the food. This is another fair where they let in almost any food vender and your taste buds will thank you for it. While I stuck with the simple cheese sticks and a hamburger, Carol on the other hand had a cross between a quesadilla and an empanada [That would be an “empanadilla.” – ed.]. All in all it was a fun day.

~Chris Baldi “The Healer”~
~September 23, 2008~

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18 September, 2008 by The Healer.

Wow, it’s been a while since I wrote one of these.  I apologize for the delay but unfortunately due to work and gas prices we chose not to attend all the faires we usually do.  However I do have another faire preview for you.  This time it’s for the Village Renaissance Faire in Wrightstown, Pennsylvania.  This is a one-weekend fair that is a charity fair that raises money for the Wrightstown Village Library.  My wife and I are friends with many of the actors at this faire.  The faire itself is designed to both entertain adults with a different story every year and children with a play area and arts and crafts table.  This year the plot of the main story revolves around a plot hatched by King Phillip II and Mary Queen of Scots to remove the protestant Elizabeth and replace her with a Catholic monarch.  It promises to be fun day so if you’re in the Pennsylvania area, come out and support the library. Both I and my wife will be there taking pictures for a follow up Faire and Con Report.
~Chris Baldi “The Healer”~
  ~September 17, 2008~

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10 June, 2008 by The Healer.

The show will go on. As I said in the previous post, the NJ Renaissance Kingdom and Faire opened on Saturday May 31. Regrettably, we opened to a thunderstorm and were forced to shut early. Last weekend we opened to stifling heat and underwhelming crowds but the show went on. Below are some pictures of the day. As I stated in my first teaser, this year we are doing a pirate-themed show called the Pirates of Tortuga in which the tensions between France and England boil over onto the port of Tortuga and into the court of the pirate king. So come on down and see us. The show runs weekends from to June 21 at South Mountain Reservation in West Orange.
           

~Chris Baldi “The Healer”~
         ~June 9, 2008~

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30 May, 2008 by The Healer.

After a long weekend last week of building and painting, the NJ Renaissance Kingdom and Faire is set to begin this Saturday May 31.  Me and my wife will be there as always working at the gift shop and this year our small shop will also be selling print copes of the original A Squire’s Guide To All Things Knightly, The Cabin Boy’s Pocket Pirate Handbook and the new Stakes, Crosses and Garlic: A Hunter’s Guide to Vampires.  We will also be selling an assortment of parchment bookmarks in both pirate and medieval designs that are perfect for gaming books.  I also hope to have a selection of other Healing Fireball products on hand for sale.  So come on over and see us.  The show runs weekends from May 31 to June 21 at South Mountain Reservation in West Orange.

~Chris Baldi “The Healer”~
       ~May 29, 2008~

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23 May, 2008 by Carol.

In an attempt to better ourselves through yarn reading, Chris and I journeyed into the city to visit the Philadelphia Book Fair at the Free Library last Sunday. We certainly did not go for the sole purpose of meeting the inimitable Yarn Harlot, who was there giving a talk and signing copies of her new book, if that’s what you’re thinking. (Chris tells me to keep the knitting-related news items to a minimum. I don’t understand why yarn and gaming have to be mutually exclusive, but whatever.) My apologies to the Yarn Harlot for the photo:

The library was very efficient with moving people, though, so I didn’t get to take a picture with the sock, alas.

While I was hanging out with the knitty people, Chris went to hear the discussion by the folks from LibraryThing. (Visit our Library!) They talked mostly about the implementation of interesting new features, and I have to say, it keeps getting better over there. I especially like that you can now label books with the Date Started and the Date Read, so I can finally keep track of that sort of thing. (As an aside, Chris nixed my idea of doing book reviews, unless they were gaming-related or themed. He didn’t think the geeks would like to hear about Atonement. Maybe I should take a survey).

At this point, it started raining. We putzed around, and it started to rain harder. So we jogged over to the nearby Franklin Institute (sorry, it’s “The Franklin” now, it seems) to purchase some appropriately dorky drip-free umbrellas. By that point, everything was beginning to close up and we headed home. Hopefully we’ll have better weather next year, and we can actually use the tote bags for new books we brought along.

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22 May, 2008 by The Healer.

Where we live in New Jersey the fair season starts with the Mercer County Lions Club Fair in Mercer County Park.  There really is not much to this fair.  The grounds are a large open field in Mercer Park the stages are either the portable rollaway kind or areas that have been cordoned off with plastic fencing and cones.  The food is served out of a collection of grease trucks or from portable carts.  But the price is right at only $7 and the profits go to a good cause.  Plus the number of vendors has steadily grown every year and it provides a place to get costuming and equipment before the larger more organized fairs start.   

This year was no exception and we had a fine day with a clear sky and constant breeze when we went.  We are always glad when fair season starts as we get to see some friends that we only see at fairs and this time was no different. Our friends at Lusty Leather had a booth as normal and we spent some time talking to them and browsing their new products.  Round Table Jousting with our friends from Period Productions put on a fine jousting show and the local troop of musketeers put on several firing demonstrations.  All and all it was an enjoyable trip and a great way to start the fair season.

         
~Chris Baldi “The Healer”~
     ~May 21, 2008~

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