FaerieWorlds 2011

We are back on the island but our feet still do not touch the ground. What an amazing Weekend. We had soooooo much fun and learned a ton. We are so thankful to those of Nymbol's troupe that made the trip south and made it the grand experience that it was. We could not have done it without you.

How to sum up 4 days of camping, performing and frolicking. Fortunately I can't, one has to be there and experience things that will lock into their memory for years to come. We hope you can make the journey to Eugene sometime to see it for yourself.

The costumes were amazing, the music awesome as always and the whole vibe spectacular. Drumming and merry making went well into the night. My only complaint was Saturday's weather. There were three times that it cleared. Once for our show at 2, once for our show at 5, and it finally broke when Nymbol was invited on the main stage for an interview. Some magic at play there I believe. The weather faeries like Nymbol.

I do have a couple precious memories I will share. The first is watching all my ladies perform, sing and dance with all their hearts. They make me so proud. A more perfect father's day could not be had by anyone.

The second and pleasantly surprising thing is that Nymbol has real fans. When we awoke to pack on our last day we found a sprinkling of fan mail around our campsite. Adorable. We packed it away in a safe place and will post it soon. One of the lovely Faeries we have seen at FaerieWorlds over the years came by to tell us her daughter woke up singing one of our songs. I don't think it gets any better than that.

Lastly, I want to Leave you with a story. The morning of our second show Nymbol headed over to the row of little blue houses to do his morning ritual. He was standing in line unnoticed by the bedraggled Faeries in attendance. There were two little boys running around and having a great time for it being so darn early in the day. As he got closer he could here them singing a little song of their own making.
"Nana said Poop on the potty, Nanny said Poop on the potty." sung one
"Nana said Poop on the potty, Nanny said Poop on the potty." sung the other one.
"Nana said Poop on the potty, Nanny said Poop on the potty." the first one sung back.
They carried on like this for quite a while, their voices joining together and growing in strength.

Then the sound of a heavily sprung plastic door slamming shut and Nana's voice "Are those your potty words???"

Complete silence.

Then, as they walked away a little ray of sunshine broke as the little one whispered in song,...

"Nana said poop on the potty......."



You can't make stuff like that up. That little story became the intro Nymbol told to set the scene for the next show.
Thank you Silas and Zander.

Faerieworlds here we come.

The time of year has changed so hopefully it won't be so Damn hot but other than that we are ready to go. The Van is running and ready to be stuffed, the trailer is already full to the gills. I will do a big post after we come back and maybe even an update while we are down there if there is an internet connection. Ya never know.

the little video I promised in my last post. click here

Nymbol does Port Townsend

I could go on about how we are so thankful to everyone and how awesome everyone was (because they are) but I would rather frame it in a story.
Nymbol's Secret Island is now a travelling show. We can say that because,....we went somewhere. There was much excitement along the way but there is one moment that sums up our trip in my mind. I will condense the little video I shot and put that up soon but it is this. At the beginning of the second half of the show Junior Goblin comes out and starts to dance around with Oakie the tree elf. When we did the show at WICA we used a good but rough recording of Rob creating his magic with a song that defies description. This night Rob is banging on an upright piano that looks like it forgot to dress for the occasion. Peggy is up on stage playing the accordian and doing her best and cutest chipmunk impression. As the song winds up there are smiles all around and I am sure most folks had no idea of the brilliance they were witnessing. The boys run around stage and it is over. One moment caught on a crappy camera that will make me smile forever. Trekking back the day before we have just arrived at the hall and asked if we can drag out that piano from the basement they said we can use.
"What Piano, I don't think we have a piano."
"Oh,...that piano, I don't know how the hell your going to get it up here!"
"Wait, lets ask Frank(?) if you can use it."
"That thing needs to get outta here!" says Frank.
"you want a piano,....it's yours if you if you can haul it away!"

"Yes!" says I.

25 minutes later most of the male members of Nymbol's crew are pushing the Piano up a near verticle ramp and onto the stage. 27 minutes later Rob is taking bits off the Piano and laying on the floor creating "Bee-youuuuutafull music"

At the end of the show we rolled the piano down the ramp and into the back of the Trailer. Nymbol's now has a very appropriate piano and we all have memories of a magical moment in time.

Hope to share some more soon.

-Nymbol

Holy Crapoly

It has been a while since Nymbol and I have written anything here. Not because we have been slackers at all but because we have been flat out, pedal to the metal, grinding up a 17% grade in a 42X24, going for broke and finding the edges of the page. In these last few months we have learned so much about ourselves, our children, and our good friends.

In my new career as a puppeteer I discovered that when the puppet mouths off or insults someone you look over and blame the puppet. "It wasn't me!?! It was the puppet." There is a tense moment when you and the puppet may get away with something grand or you are about to get slapped. It always helps at this point that Nymbol tries something charming. If there is laughter you are saved. If someone walks away, or your face is stinging, you have gone too far. That tense moment I just described,...... I had that feeling for a month and a half. I was certainly blaming the puppet. What ever made Nymbol do that little video so we could apply for WICA's local Artist series.

Sitting here, finally recovered, I am so glad he did. I have never worked so hard, been out of my comfort zone for so long, or had that much fun.

There are a couple moments I need to share with you. More than a couple but I will try and be brief.

When we found out that we got the spot at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts local artist series we were joking with someone there and they mentioned that one of the Juror's wondered if we could pull it off. If you ever want to inspire us to get something done, do just that. It worked when I was a teenager. It works now.

We knew we needed an intro song and a closing song and who better to do that than the best writer in our family, Tabatha. Tabatha and I talked about what we thought might be good, how to explain Nymbol's world and off she went. She came back two hours later with a hand written page and lyrics. To steal a line from the Panto last winter. "my gast was flabbered!"
One week later we were in Rob Marsyani's living room listening to the music he had written for it. I don't even have words to describe how amazed I was. The show was becoming real.

Our first music rehearsal. Rob Marsyani came in, played the music and we started, Then he said something to the effect of. "That is great, now the girls sing this part, the boys this, the round starts here, you come in here, this is your solo, this is yours, you come in again here, you sing this a key above, this below, great, got it, lets go!" We went, a little slow at the start, and then, BAM, there it was. A song so far beyond what I hoped I couldn't sing any more. I was crying.

Blarney where's your trousers? Seriously, where are they? Once we started singing that as a group we really took off. It was so much fun to see people start compulsively Dancing around. I am guessing this world has existed for a while it is just one I have never been a part of. Guys going to bike races spend time talking about gear ratio's and the latest unobtanium this or that. This singing thing is way more fun. Nymbol is a cat IV singer by the way.

Dress Rehearsal. With a night to go we hadn't really seen the whole show. The International Ballet from Bellevue got caught up in the joy that can be only described as the Edmonds Ferry Debacle. They arrived before the end of act 2 and watched from the seats. The night before the show and we hadn't done a whole runthrough. Vera the artistic Director took the stage and was the quintessential Choreographer. She barked out orders in Russian with her dancers whipping about the stage. Everyone stayed and watched. It was a magic moment for sure. To add to the moment, Ryan was stuck 20' up in his silk and watching the scene from above. He had a grin that stretched ear to ear.

Pegaso. A few weeks before the show our friend Carolyn was down from just north of Coopeville and wanted to work on a project for her horses. She mentioned to us that Andalusian horses where from the bloodline of Unicorns. She said something else that I cannot remember but I do remember the shock that went through my body. I looked at Sam and she had obviously had the Sam shock. I knew what she was thinking, She knew what I was thinking. In unison we asked, "what do you think of having one of your Unicorns at our show?!?!?" Fast forward a few weeks to Pegaso's first rehearsal. From behind Nymbol's stage this towering white horse and horn came clomping onto the stage. Being behind the Unicorn meant that his edges were glowing. To add to the moment he spied Nymbol and came right over to give him a sniff or two. From behind the stage I patted Nymbol on the head. "Your amazing" I said to him. He nodded back.

It's Showtime. We were really here, we are doing this thing. I was laughing from behind the curtain as I could hear the Pirates giving the crowd a hard time. The Curtains opened and we were off. I can't really remember too much else because we were all "in the zone." I do remember on moment quite well. Blarney and Nymbol were sitting next to each other listening to Philip Boulding play his harp. They were rocking back and forth and being chums. Nymbol reached over and put his arm around Blarney and gave him a squeeze. The funny part about that is to do this the scene was repeating itself from behind the curtain. I was putting my arm around Izzy and giving her a squeeze. She looked back at me and smiled.

If we never, ever do this again that will be the moment I remember the most. It sums up everything Nymbol has been about since the time he has come into our lives. I couldn't be prouder of her, Tabatha, Samantha and the rest of the wonderful Troupe than I was at that moment. Thank you all so much.

Don't worry, we will definitely be doing this again. Nymbol went out and found us the perfect 4X4 15 passenger van so we will be able to take the Troupe to the next show. I really can't wait.

This last part I won't be reading aloud to my wife. She needs to find this on her own. It might get a little mushy so you might not want to keep reading.

Sam you are amazing. You are the super-glue that holds this whole motley crew together in every way. You are an such and amazing singer and actress and I beam with pride every time you are on stage. It was the same watching with Nymbol from behind his stage. None of this, and you know the "this" that I mean could ever have happened if it were not for you. I am more smitten by you than ever and that is really saying something. I cannot wait to see what adopted Bogart grows up to be. Nymbol and his Troupe are all doing a deep bow right now. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Recycling

There is something I love about the digital age. Case in point. Take an image you did about 4 years ago. (first you have to find it on one of your backup drives.) Then layer in a few new photos, cut, paste, trace, draw some more, Then draw some more. After a few hours "viola" new poster. Gotta go work on our new masks now.

What a weekend. 5 things made this weekend truly spectacular. If it were possible to jam everything and everyone into the last weekend of summer we came pretty damn close. It was a great time.

#1 Some friends of ours (Damon and Amy) from Hood River, Oregon came up for a visit with their truly adorable little girl "Poppy." They are the most amazing house guests we have ever had and set a standard we won't try to live up to. They brought a cooler full of food and their own towels. They didn't want us to have to do too much laundry when they left. (shake head here) This was topped off by coming home to the smell of a cedar planked salmon dinner they wanted to prepare for us. A somewhat impossible confusion to my sense of smell knowing we don't own a grill. Turns out they bought us a newfangled charcoal grill as a housewarming present when they found out we didn't have one. I am still shaking my head over that one. Amazing friends. The Salmon was beyond comment and we went to sleep with our bellies quite content. The Last night they were here was spent sitting around the "fireball" singing songs and making smores. Perfect.

#2 The shop has been a place of magic the last few days. Between Friday and Saturday just about everyone we had some sort of relationship with on the island came in for a visit. This even included Anatoli from the International Ballet who brought another friend and his wife to check things out. I got very little done but it was a great couple days. We did make some leather vambraces (cuffs) that came out really well while talking to visitors and socializing with our friends. By the end of the Saturday we were joking about the only folks we hadn't seen that day only to have them turn up 5 minutes later.

#3 A very nice man named Rodney Wood came into our shop and asked if he could do some photographs in and out of our shop. "Sure!" I said. Then he told me about the interesting process he uses to take the photos. I nodded with a cursory understanding. He showed us a couple prints he had and we were gobsmacked. He did a few different shots of the shop and Nymbol and crew got in to the action. When I got home I looked up more of his work. Rodney has a flickr site. Right now, open another window and do a search for him under people on flickr. Wow. If there is a faerie sight he is able to capture it. I cannot wait to see what he comes up with.

are you back from checking on Rodney? Good. Amazing isn't it.

#4 At some time during one of Nymbol's impromptu performances a few families were in the shop and trying on wings and playing around. Nymbol ran off and I came out and chatted with a few folks. One little girl had been dancing in our wings for ages. Her Grandmother with two older grandchildren handed me $40 and told me to collect the rest from who I assumed was her daughter. She said "it's a grandmother thing." The mom gave me a strange look and handed me the other $20. My friend Damon, who was being more astute than I at the time asked me if they were related. "It's her grandmother," I said. I thanked them as they left the shop and I noticed they went in different directions. "Wait a second," I asked. "Are you guys related???" I asked the grandmother."
"No?" she said with a smile on her face. I gave her a big hug and almost cried. I ran back in the store and got two little bottles of faerie dust to give to her actual granddaughters.

#5 Rainey. Rainey, Rainey. If this weekend hadn't already been filled with magic friends and mystery. On Saturday night Sam and I went over to visit Rainey and hear what she has been working on for "Nymbol's Secret Show." More than once I just sat their in shock. Nymbol and troop have been propelled to the next level by her words and music. Mukilteo Coffee here we come. (our show next Saturday) I cannot say how touched I am that she would dig so deep, sweat, write, and disregard her need for sleep to conjure up such a gift for Nymbol and his Troop. We met again Sunday morning to go over the run of show and were making each other laugh. I look forward to seeing how everyone reacts to what we are doing. I am excited and see this as the turning of the very big page in the book that will become Nymbol's journey. Thank you Rainey. You are amazing.