Maggie -- I awoke about three hours before sunrise this morning and, alas, some 36 hours too late, came up with an 'on the fly' creepy story for you. Would that I had thought of it earlier.<br><br>Twas a dark and stormy night. Clouds rushed before the full moon permitting only the briefest flashes of her radiance. The wind sang like the cry of ban sidhe.
<br><br>Below the tavern, in the dank underground where was stored the water of life, dwelt a beast of great cunning -- an predaceous arachnid of the order Araneae. In the dead of the night this itsy bitsy spider climbed up the uisge spout . . .
<br><br><br>You can finish the rest<br><br>~ihon<br>(anybody want the judges to reconsider?)<br><br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Dec 17, 2007 9:03 AM, Genie Barrett <<a href="mailto:ladymaggie@justinanimator.com" target="_blank">
ladymaggie@justinanimator.com</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
At 08:35 PM 12/14/2007, you wrote:<br><br>>Someone should take good notes and be prepared to enthuse on the list<br>>about the competition tomorrow.<br>><br>>Very best,<br>>Rhiannon<br><br>While I didn't take notes, I was there...sorry to everyone I don't
<br>mention, or whose name I have forgotten. I'm so terrible with names.<br><br>Judging where Master Finnacan, of course, Prince Aaron--who<br>volunteered to judge, in true Ansteorran fashion, and Master<br>Tiggy. Our Stellar King, and honored Princess also sat through the
<br>entire competition and granted it much honor and dignity, I must say. GRIN<br><br>Dragonsfire Tor set up two pavilions for us. They set them up in a T<br>so that overflow from the beautiful pavilion the performances could
<br>still be in out of the weather. There were two heaters, much<br>appreciated, and plenty chairs and a table for the judges. They also<br>provided coffee and tea for all. They were very gracious hosts.<br><br>The first round started with Master Ihon doing a period poem about
<br>Death, and holding a mummified head as he did it. Then we had a<br>Master Darius' song "For Just One Time" by.... Sorry, I am so<br>horrible at names... some great alliteration by Nix, an Italian song<br>
by Mea, some great stories, Mulan (Me) and finished with an original song.<br><br>As each performer finished, they took a slip of paper form the<br>"Dreaded Box of Doom" and the expressions were awesome. Master Ihon,
<br>who got the first one asked for clarification, but received a<br>simple... "That's for you to interpret." Subjects included Classic,<br>creepy, happy, cheerful, rousing, something like marshal or warlike,
<br>and several others. What was NOT pulled were some of the easier<br>ones, like patriotic.<br><br>Then the second round began. Same order, so Master Ihon began<br>again. He gave the judges a choice of Period Classic, Current Middle
<br>Ages Classic, or Classic Ansteorran (guess who got classic). The<br>judges chose number two, and he performed a wonderful piece that most<br>people knew, though I didn't. Very beautiful piece. Then things got<br>
cheerful with Nix and Mea and then I changed the mood with my<br>"creepy" song. GRIN Why is it, that the subject you get is the<br>hardest one for you? Me with creepy, HE Namron with "cheery"... What
<br>can I say. Things got fun by the end, and then finished with another<br>original piece that brought tears to an eye or two.<br><br>---An aside, here. HE Ihon and I were talking before the competition<br>about how one should save Born on the Listfield for the second round,
<br>because it fits so many subjects, but I'm sorry, creepy just isn't<br>one of those subjects....<br><br>We had a break for a half hour, and then we all gathered back in the<br>pavilion to hear the finals. Master Finnacan gave much deserved
<br>complements to each performer, and then announced who would<br>advance. Master Ihon, Nix, and Mea.<br><br>The final round was to be a performance to thank Dragonsfire Tor for<br>their hospitality. Mea started with a beautiful poem of gratitude
<br>and honor. Then Master Ihon told a story of how Dragonsfire Tor came<br>to be. Then Nix finished with much alliteration in a poem honoring<br>the Tor and their history. This was an amazing competition, and I<br>was glad that I was not judging it.
<br><br>Some time later, maybe half an hour, the King and Queen opened<br>court. They processed in, and did just one thing... Announce, after<br>much honoring and thanking, that HE Stargate, Master Igon, had<br>won. Then, because he had to go home before feast, Master Ihon again
<br>performed his piece for the assembled populace. I even think it was<br>better in the second telling than the first.<br><br>When Master Finnacan passed on the regalia, he started with a new<br>bard's cloak. He had commissioned HE Rixende de Rouen to make a new
<br>cloak. It is beautiful. Gold wool, trimmed in black, with a two to<br>three foot harp on the back with a rose in the middle. She has sown<br>beads that catch the light in the center of the rose. It is to be<br>lined, a removable and washable lining, in red linen. There is also
<br>a small trim to be added to tack down the edge of the black bordering<br>(rumor has it, that they will be in the motley colors). That has not<br>been finished yet. I cannot remember (someone help me?) the name of<br>
the lord who made the clasps, but they are also roses and<br>beautiful. Makes one really want to win next year.<br><br>Court recessed, and then feast began.<br><br>What a fun and enjoyable day. The competition was fierce, the
<br>performances were all enjoyable. An awesome day.<br><br>Maggie<br><br>_______________________________________________<br>Bards mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Bards@lists.ansteorra.org" target="_blank">Bards@lists.ansteorra.org
</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/bards-ansteorra.org" target="_blank">http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/bards-ansteorra.org</a><br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Rev. John F. Hirling
<br>Interim Pastor<br>First Presbyterian Church<br>Angleton, TX 77515<br>(979) 849-5722