purplerabbits

I am panicking now. Fortunately I foresaw this, and my to do list for the day has "panic" as item 9. Since I have already done items 1 to 8 I feel I am on track. The rest of the list goes:

10. Calm down
11. Go get ready
12. Drum like a bastard

*takes a deep breath*

Had a great walkthrough last night with drummers and white, which incidentally included tea and scones. I'm gonna get a cloak! and a tartan tabard thingy! anna fla-ag! So ner!

And this is where I'm going this weekend:



And the weather looks nice enough for this:


Now I just have to get through a supervision before they let me out the building. Wish me luck :-(

The feast went well! We fed 120 people until they were fll and the food was nice and we didn't make anyone ill and the pig looked very impressive and people danced and I drummed and overall we generally ruled!

And I've been dreaming about the cooking for two nights since.

On the 20th I met with Davey my lovely van driver and collected tables and chairs from two places and left them in the van and got taken to Tesco by zotz who helped me shop for starter ingredients and collect the hire glasses and left those in his car and packed a suitcase of things for the Hall and did relaxation exercises. I even found time to finish dying my hair, which was a matter of great importance, as you can imagine.

I then got about seven hours sleep and woke at 8am, as I have been recently, whether I like it or not. Not a huge amount, but enough to keep me vaguely sane. ( lj-cut for a long day )
Pictures will follow when I have finished buying Xmas stuff.

Photos of Samhuin
Drummers - http://www.flickr.com/photos/68416522@N00/287232072/ (that's me on the left)
Drummers - http://www.flickr.com/photos/37578869@N00/287007464/in/photostream/
Drummers in the crowds - http://www.flickr.com/photos/two_truths/285865562/ (I'm the short one...)
Drummers with Horned God's entourage - http://www.flickr.com/photos/37578869@N00/287007471/
The Horned God - http://www.flickr.com/photos/photopath/285125212/
A very blurred one of drummers I like - http://www.flickr.com/photos/catsfather/285475615/

Jesters, including Matt's scary hat - http://www.flickr.com/photos/37578869@N00/285153809/

Busking on The Mound - http://www.flickr.com/photos/two_truths/284596289/

Does anyone have any links to pictures that aren't on Flickr?

Off to do Samhuinn now.

We will rock. Yes, we will, but I have terrible stage fright...

Wish me luck! And come and see me if you're in Edinburgh. (Castle at 9pm, Mound at 9.40, Bongo Club at 11pm onward)

The Winter Drummers weekend away was one of the most awesome things ever. I have to go to work this afternoon, so I will stick to the highlights.

Drumming the gods onto the site and my heart just lifting
Newton's hat that burnt while it was 'just left to dry' while we drummed
My cosy cosy caravan and the giant sleeping bag of doom and getting enough sleep
Siobhan's expert assistance in making my own beaters, which are very neat and admirable
Fire and fleet and candlelight
Using the throne of destiny in the woods
Gorgeous autumn sunshine. And the sea. And the dunes.
Innumerable stars and the distant sounds of geese and the milky way
No, it's not too late in the year for Orion, you just have to stay up late...
Banananas stuffed with Green and Blacks Maya Gold Chocolate baked in the fire
Sharing the lovely Calvados Steve bought me
Working out how being in Winter Court sits with my SAD and may even help it
Impressive displays of juggling and fire spinning and guitar
The evolution of the battle of the gods
Drumming in the dome, and the woods and round the fire
The horned dog
Nearly died from laughing so many times
A most elegant skein of geese at just the right moment

Cutter has some pictures at her blog if you want to see...

Drumming went well. It looks like I may play in the parade and not just steward. I know all the agogo parts at least as well as everyone else knows theirs, it's just that I may be the only one, which scares me. Still I get to stand at the front so I can see the Mestre, and if I drop in and out it doesn't look like I'm doing anything horribly wrong to the untrained eye.

Only thing is I have to wear black trousers and a white top. Now I own black trousers, though I hate to wear them, but the only white top I own is a truly enormous goth pirate shirt. It would look great with the sparkly waistcoat, but do I dare wear it when everyone else is in T-shirts, or should I toe the line and buy one?

I am feeling quite cheery today in spite of being forced to go to Glasgow. Elvis Costello rocked out on Monday, playing for two and a half hours non-stop. He played much of The Delivery Man, which I cannot afford to but yet but really really want, and he played Alison! Possibly because he was in Scotland, but anyway...

I really dislike the Usher Hall, though, especially for a sit down gig, especially attending alone. Their coffee mings and they didn't let us into our seats until half an hour after the doors open time (there are no seats outside the hall). In spite of this the man got people standing up and clapping and dancing down the front, this last by saying "I dreamt I was in the Usher Hall and it was full of Glaswegians who couldn't dance". Other amusing witticisms including a long ramble about George Harrison's second guitar, which wasn't stolen in any way (and also seemed to be suffering from lousy feedback).

And with all the jumping up and down there was no doubt that at fifty the man still has immense energy (more than me, for sure). And I have decided that if a gentleman is receding from the front and has a widows peak he may keep his hair as long as he likes as long as he doesn't start to sport a Francis Rossi ponytail. Just so you know.

And last night was drumming, which is getting better and better. I played agogo bells and did a brief stint on shaker (which I am glad to see that everyone hates), and then gravitated toward my favourite Number Three Surdo, which was hard but actually very rewarding, and I can now carry it with no pain.

Drumming is obviously working at some level. I now hear drum patterns in music I'm listening to, and at the gig I was clapping in a more complicated rhythm and not getting it wrong. Yay!