Huzzah!

Last Saturday, my mother and I made our annual pilgrimage to the far east side. It's an hour and a half journey, that probably should only take half that time but there's always a traffic jam to weather through. It's the only road that takes you to where the Arizona Renaissance Festival takes place, every year February through March. Unless you leave extra early, which we can never seem to pull off, you're expecting to be in stop and go traffic for 45-50 minutes of that hour and a half. It's a very popular destination this time of year and rightly so, it's fun for the whole family with plenty of alcohol for the adults. Plus, where else can you tear apart a large turkey leg with your bare teeth?

Mmm, juicy turkey leg. *drool*

So after finally snaking our way to the main entrance, I usually take a moment to allow by bum to wake up before gathering up my things and putting up the sun visor. This is an all day event so the more protection against the sun that you have, the better: sun visor for the car, baseball hat and sunscreen for me. It's always a good idea to bring cash with you, especially if you want to avoid waiting in line at the ATM machine along with the associated ATM fees. $26 can go a long way if you're frugal and stick to food and drink. Why such an uneven number you ask? (Even if you didn't, humor me) I had $6 left over from Starbucks the previous day and I got $20 out before we left. I was able to get two bottles of water, a turkey leg, roasted almonds and a small flag banner type thing (Flanner?). It may not seem like much but it was good enough for me, besides, I benefited from the cash my mother brought as well. Three words...chocolate covered strawberries, oh and beer, not at the same time.

Yes, those are Storm Troopers as the King's Guard. Time Travel Weekend.

There is so much to do at the Ren Fair, you can follow the schedule as much as you want to but you will miss 80% of everything else. There are about a dozen different stages with different shows every hour spread throughout the park. Each show ranging from family oriented variety shows to humor and music.Then there are game stalls: shooting arrows with bows, throwing stars, a maze. Shops: books, weaponry, jewelry, odds and ends. Food, glorious food. Drinks: soda, smoothies, coffee, teas, beer, mead, wine, mixed drinks and of course water. The raspberry mead is delicious but unfortunately small compared to how much it costs. You're better off with regular beer. There is a variety of food, so if turkey legs are not your thing (to which I say, what's wrong with you?) you will have no trouble finding something to chow down on: roasted corn on the cob, various bread bowls, everything on a stick (ok really it's just chicken and sausage on a stick), pizza, crepes.

The very funny comedy duo of Hey Nunnie Nunnie. Rocking out to one of their silly songs in the act--Carry On My Wayward Nun. Oh if they only knew why I cheered so loudly.

But one of my favorite things to do is to catch at least one of the three Jousting Tournaments that take place through-out the day. A helpful tip, always try to arrive a half an hour (or at least 20 min.) prior to the joust starting to get the good seats where the sun isn't shining directly in your face. You have the sun baking your back but at least you can see and if you don't were a tank top you'll be fine. We often miss the first joust, again because early not being our friend and usually get there just in time for the second. This time we got there about an hour before the second joust. We wandered, watched the second half of one performance and the first half of the second performance at the Dancing Pig Pub. It's located just outside the jousting arena. Also, not too far away from the jousting area is the food area. There are two main food areas (I believe), one at the far end by the jousting arena and the other at the front near the main entrance. We were already a bit hungry when we first got there (worked up an appetite in the forever line of cars), but kept right on going part the massive lines at the main entrance food area. The lines at the back of the park were much better and in about 15 minutes, we had our food. We made our way to the arena, found some good seats and ate our food while we waited for the show to start. Mom with her chili in a bread bowl and I with my turkey leg. There joust consisted of a lot of cheering for Sir Egeron (or Elgeron, it's hard to remember, let's call him the good looking one wearing my favorite color). Sadly, he did not win. We didn't catch the final joust so I'm not sure how he fared in that one. At the end, we threw away our trash and continued to wander the fair.

Two of the four knights, one holding sword and the other with his shield.

Despite, what you have in mind before you arrive (sticking to a plan is almost impossible) you will undoubtedly wind up doing something completely different. You either forgot about a certain show, or the person you're with has not seen the same shows you have. So you wind up being re-introduced to some great things at the cost of missing out on something else, but it's a price worth paying since it will pay out in fun and laughs regardless.

Bag pipers from the band Tartanic. I don't leave before catching the show and saying hello to the band.

So my advice to anyone who has never been to the Renaissance Festival: go forth and be merry! In other words go, you won't regret it. Try to fit as much into your day as your poor legs and wallet can handle. It took me years after moving to this state to finally get around to going. I've been going every year since. Each year brings a new and interesting experience. I am sad to see it end but always look forward to next year. Luckily, I usually have other things to fill the gap: Phoenix Comicon, vacations, other fun things that might come up. So it makes the wait a lot easier. I had hoped to get this post up sooner, since this was the last weekend of the fair. But, I had little time to work on any writing that wasn't involved with work. So, you will just have to promise to take me up on my advice next year (I'll be checking, no I won't, but it sure would be nice if you did though). Huzzah!

Phoenix Salute to Supernatural

A couple weeks ago (Feb. 20-22, I know, a bit behind), the first ever Salute to Supernatural convention was held right here in Phoenix at the downtown Sheraton Hotel. I was fortunate enough to attend the convention (my first Supernatural con) and had a great time. I'm not a stranger to conventions, having been involved with Phoenix Comicon on a volunteer basis since 2012. But this con was my first in regards to experiencing it from an attendee viewpoint. A financial restriction kept me from getting photos, autographs and swag but it did not keep me from enjoying myself. I really liked the panels--they were interesting and very informative. Spending time with my friends, meeting new friends, who all share my love of the show is what made the entire weekend worth it.

A few things taking place prior to this convention nearly had me skipping it entirely. A delay with filing my taxes (not on my end), car accident which put my vehicle in the shop, but ultimately my inner fangirl would not accept missing out on a convention in my own backyard. Luckily, a friend had a free pass for Friday so I only had to cover my admission for Saturday and Sunday. My friends, who are true definitions of SPNFamily (the fandom nickname for fans of Supernatural who consider themselves a family, inspired by the actors of the series) were more than willing to ensure I had a ride to the convention, helped me forget my worries for a bit and gave me a weekend full of laughs and great memories.

Friday, we arrived just in time to sit down for Lauren Tom's panel who played Mama Tran. She is so petite and adorable and had great stories about working on the set of Supernatural, working with Jensen and Jared and of course with her TV son Osric Chau who played Kevin Tran. She has a large body of work from shows such as: The Simpsons, Futurama, King of the Hill, Friends (so many other voice acting credits)--to movies such as: The Joy Luck Club, Bad Santa, Bad Teacher, Wallstreet. Right after her, was Osric Chau dressed as Gaara from Naruto. Osric is well known for his elaborate costumes in the last couple years, a different one at each convention. Osric is a precious human being--his kindness and love of the show and the fans alike easily comes across during his panels.

After roaming the vendor hall and meeting up with our group, we all headed out to dinner at the mall across the street to kill time before the much anticipated Karaoke Kings Friday Night Karaoke Party, hosted by the con's MC Richard Speight Jr. (Gabriel in the show) and his partner in crime Matt Cohen (young John Winchester/Michael). These two are a hilarious duo and make the karaoke party a huge highlight of the weekend. I knew a bit of what to expect having seen videos on Youtube from past conventions, but being there in person was definitely a much better/different experience. Everyone was singing along, many of the actors came out to sing their own songs including: Osric, Lauren, Gil McKinney (Henry Winchester), Mark Pellegrino (Lucifer), Rob Benedict (Chuck in the show, lead singer of indie rock band Louden Swain). The fans were of course also able to get up on stage, they were all chosen at random from a huge pile of submissions. We all entered, a couple of us as a group and a couple as solos. Our group got called up for Billy Joel's Only the Good Die Young, which we regretted a bit afterwards because while it is a great song it is not necessarily a good song for a group. But the crowd enjoyed it and we had a great time...bonus I got a hug from Rob Benedict. I submitted a Pat Benatar song, one of my go-to karaoke artists. A friend submitted what would have been my submission but entered it first, Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' by Journey. Anyway, there is both photographic and video evidence of our singing out there.

I arrived late on Saturday and missed a few panels after having spent my morning waiting for the pest control guy and getting a rental car. But once again, just in time for a great panel, that of Mark Sheppard (Crowley). His sarcasm and humor are great. He also is very appreciative of his fans. He walked off the stage and strolled through the audience pausing here and there to chat with fans while answering questions with a tone of snark. Afterwards, it was meet up time with the group again to grab lunch during which we happened to spot Misha Collins (Castiel) walking past the restaurant with his Meet and Greet group of fans. They stopped for a bit so Misha could give a couple of girlscouts some giant pixie sticks (he had bought a bunch for his entire group, from a kid selling them at the mall) and buy a large stack of cookies from them. At the same time, Mark Pellegrino showed up, also having been out and about at the mall. He paused to say hello to Misha and the fans then continued on back to the Sheraton. We all got pictures, naturally. After our meal, we went outside to the mom with the girlscouts and chatted with her. She had no idea who Misha was and we were more than happy to explain. She said she would definitely look him up when she got home.

Back to the hotel we went for Richard, Matt, and Rob's Panel and after that Misha's. Dinner was at My Big Fat Greek at the mall (we spent a lot of time at that mall, close proximity food) prior to the Louden Swain concert. The concert was fantastic, as I knew it would be. I was already a fan of Rob and his band having been turned on to their music by friends when I first starting watching Supernatural. Similar to the karaoke show, the concert was littered with guest appearances by cast: Osric, Gil, Richard, Sebastian Roche (Balthazar). But it wasn't until Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester) made a brief appearance that the crowd went crazy. He sang a five part harmony with Richard, Rob, Billy, and Michael (Billy & Michael are two of Rob's bandmates plus Stephen) to the song Seven Bridges Road by The Eagles. This was followed by an even shorter appearance of Jared Padalecki (Sam Winchester) who greeted the crowd then fled the stage after Jensen asked him to sing with him. But despite their short time on stage, their presence there at all on a Saturday was a first in the history of Salute for Supernatural cons.

The first day that I could have arrived early, I wasn't able to. The day started with the ballroom being reserved for gold members only and general admission didn't need to show up until after lunch. This of course was Sunday, the big day for the boys' panel. I think I got there around 11 in the morning and wandered around the vendor hall after getting my final armband. I knew photo ops were going on and a couple of my friends with gold passes were in the ballroom, so to kill some time I wandered over to the table of the Supernatural Crossroads guys. The guys, who we first met on Thursday and hung out with a bit on Friday night, are local fans of the show that started their own Supernatural radio show/podcast. I hadn't listened to the show at the time, but have been binge listening to the entire years worth of episodes in the last few days. It's a well produced, intelligent discussion based chat about Supernatural related topics and detailed reviews of episodes plus great cast interviews. Both hosts were at the table on Sunday, Thomas and Ryan, their producer Mike (who has as much to say on the show as the hosts) was missing at first. I took the opportunity to snag of photo with the guys and promised to start listening to the show soon. I have kept my word and have not been able to stop listening, suffice to say I really love the show. Besides, my list of podcasts had been missing a Supernatural themed show.

Fast forward to the panels...we sat through poor Colin Ford's panel. I felt bad for the kid, the sound system was horrible so he had to ask people to restate their questions repeatedly. But he was adorable and smart even though you could tell he wasn't used to doing panels. Cue the panel of the day, the thing everyone was there for (at least those of us in the cheap seats who didn't see them earlier that morning)--Jared & Jensen's panel. Despite having ear pieces in both ears, the stars of the show could still not properly hear people's questions. Their prior experience with numerous cons has them well prepared to deal with such issues and retain their professionalism but also give the fans a good show. In true J2 fashion there was a lot of teasing and joking in addition to great story telling from the boys. To the sheer joy of everyone in the ballroom, Jensen showed everyone exactly what it would look like if the Winchesters tried hunting ghosts with a salt filled hula hoop. The fan that asked the question and I'm paraphrasing, "When Dean and Sam fight ghosts, why don't they just use a hula hoop filled with salt?"--that fan was everyone's hero that day. Jensen jumps up from the chair and proceeds to mime holding a shotgun and gyrate across the stage pretending to "hula hoop" with background music provided by the band. One of the funniest and greatest things I have seen in a long while and it happened more than one in lesser degrees. There is a lot of video out there, just Youtube: Phxcon Jensen Hula Hooping. You can thank me later.

So there you have it, my long winded (but hopefully not boring) write up on the Salute to Supernatural convention in Phoenix. If you've made it this far, I thank you.