Blue Rodeo @ Folk Fest

Not the greatest video/sound quality, but believe me when I say it was a fantastic show. You can't really tell, but the crowd sings a good chunk of this song. Good job, hippies!

Gettin' Our Folk On...

Well, when all was said and done, Folk Fest was a success.

It was a long weekend of getting up early after late nights, lugging wares, dodging bad weather, and praying for customers to give us money , so we could participate in the capitalism of Folk Fest purchasing cigarettes, over-priced vendor food, and over-priced pub pints.

In looking back at my photos from the weekend, the majority of them are of myself and my helper monkey friends lazing and dozing on the grass in and around our tent. We were a tired bunch of hippies this weekend, but we persevered, and ended up having a fantabulous time. Naps in the grass are a wonderful thing.


Sales were slow, but we did make a profit. I wish we would have done better, but we were up against inclement moody weather, the rising cost of ticket prices and the fact that everybody in town seemed to have spent their money on August long weekend.

It was nice to see customers from previous festivals come back for more, and to see my wares in the arms of happy new customers around the park, showing off their new bag or skirt. It really gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside when someone is ecstatic about something that you created.

The best part of the festival, were the roaming friends who were always popping in for a visit, be it just a few minutes, or a few hours. We had friends bringing us meals and snacks, and drinks and good conversation. We were a popular tent for visiting and laughing, and it made me feel even more warm and fuzzy to have those wonderful people around me as I sat in the tent for 3 days. I hope they took me seriously when I told them how grateful I was for their help, and told them how much I loved them. The weekend just wouldn't have been the same without their presence.

I love our local Folk Festival, and have attended every single year, since I moved to The City. But I was disturbed by the fact that we didn't get free tickets to the shows, didn't have a place to park, and that we weren't even invited to the after parties this year. All day Sunday, I was talking about how much I wished that I could see Blue Rodeo, and complained about the less than stellar treatment of the vendors.

Moments before Blue Rodeo was to hit the stage, our friend Jules, who had a weekend pass, looked at me, asked me if I wanted to go in to the main stage, and wriggled her hand out of the green bracelet that held all the power to get me through the waist high orange gates. I lubed up my hand with lotion, and slipped it on.

"I'm going in!" I yelled, as I dodged hugs and high fives from friends who were stuck watching from over the fence and atop the cenotaph. I ran into the gates, holding up my wristband for all to see.

It took mere seconds to find a group of friends with leftover drink tickets. I grabbed myself a beer, and we headed up to the stage. We sang and danced and cried and I took some horrible pictures that didn't turn out at all. Thankfully, I was with B-Rock the Rock-tographer, and I am sure that he got some great shots. It was a fantastic finale to an exhausting but fun weekend.

Today, it's back to reality. Work commitments of all kinds are beckoning me. My Oldsmobile needs to get taken to the big salvage yard in the sky. TypicalQuirk and Hobbsley are leaving this coming weekend, and there is intense housecleaning and party planning to be completed. I haven't showered or combed my hair since Thursday night.

Summer is, rather unfortunately, coming to a close and every moment is planned out for me. Luckily, it'll only be fun and games for a few more weeks, and with the festivals out of the way for this year, I have one less responsibility to worry about, and can just concentrate on having a darn good time.

Countdown to Folk Fest!!!

Well, one more sleep, and it'll be time to get my hippie on. Folk Fest is starting in less than a day, and damned if I'm not ready for it. I did however throw a few creations together today, and thought I'd show 'em off.

All I'm hoping for is to make a bit of money for beers on Sunday night when the hippie fest is over, when I'll have time to party with my friends, who I'm missing something fierce this week.

Wish me luck!

Good Times and Procrastination

I'm not kidding, this summer really has been kicking royal ass. It is only half-over and I have already added it to my list of "Greatest Summer's Ever" in the ol' memory bank. However, it has apparently kicked my ass a bit as well, or possibly, it was just the past weekend of fun and games and drinking and laughing and not sleeping out at The Lake that did me in.

I actually stayed home tonight, for the second time in a month. I planned for it all day Monday. I fought the urge to head to The Pub after work today, all day. It almost killed me, not to go and laugh and drink with friends that I haven't seen since last week when I headed out camping. I had good intentions. I was going to go home after work, finish unloading and putting away my camping gear, and sit down and work my ass off all night at the sewing machine, and get ready for the Folk Festival this coming weekend.

I did come home after work. I cracked a leftover camping beer and headed to my bedroom. I surfed the InterWeb, and planned my evening. Then I fell asleep.

Five hours later, I awoke to the sounds of my stomach growling, and Nancy Grace and her posse debating whether Britney Spears should lose custody of her children or not, given her tendencies to feed her sons Doritos and soda pop. I rolled over, and fought the urge to just keep on sleeping until morning, forcing myself to wake up and do something productive.

Productivity in the wee hours of the morning has so far consisted of eating a tuna sandwich, loading the dishwasher with dirty camping dishes and driving 2 blocks to the Petro-Can to buy cigarettes, because I was too lazy to walk. None of these activities are helping me get prepared for the Folk Fest. Sheesh.

The downside to having the best summer ever, is the fact that my work, sewing and otherwise, is really cutting into my party time. I have become lazy and somewhat irresponsible, and only care about having fun.

And my goodness, I have no problem with that. I haven't been this happy with myself, and with my life, in years, if ever. All this fun, and all my good times with my wonderful gaggle of friends, has boosted my confidence, and has basically obliterated all the stress of the months prior, and I couldn't be happier at this point in time.

I'll get my butt in gear, and I will be ready for the weekend, because I'm me, and I work better under intense pressure. And as soon as this festival is over, I'm going back to being the big bad party animal, because summer is only so long, and I'm not going to waste a single moment of it.

Not only is summer too short, but so is life, so you might as well enjoy the fuck out of it.