relaxed
vakkotaur and I got there right after the gate opened. We'd decided to miss the gate show, since we'd seen it once and it was the same crap it always was, complete with the same annoying "tribute" to the royalty. (Hint: Nobody ever used "yea, ah, yea" as a standard reply to a queen or princess!) It took a while to get inside. We hung out with rillaspins for a couple of hours, until it was time to grab a seat for Vilification Tennis.I got some munchies first, and we sat down. Early. The show was scheduled to start at 12 noon, and we sat about 11:25 - and still sat in the sun. We watched the Morris dancers, as we always do - because they're the act right before Vilification Tennis. That ended about 12:05, and about 12:15, the referee came out and said "I don't care what the broadsheet says, we're not starting till 12:30!". Grumble.
Finally, they did get started. For those of you who haven't seen one of these, it's a show where "players" hurl insults at each other, roughly in the form of a tennis match. The insults are usually R-rated, but for the final show of the season, they do an extended show - an hour instead of 30 minutes) and hold almost nothing back. (They don't use the f-word, but that's about the only restriction.) Usually, the referee ends the introduction, in which he strongly advises parents to take their kids somewhere else, with "and if they repeat the crap we're about to say in the car on the way home, don't come bitching to us!", with the audience joining in on the last part. This time, it was "if you don't want them to hear someone say 'shit', it's too late!" The show was funnier than usual. They really let loose.
After that, we wandered around a while. My calves started cramping up again. A pickle helped a little, but not much. We watched Zilch the Torysteller's show, and Paul got to hear the period version of Free Bird. Another visit with Rilla, and I was ready to head out. Paul stuck around a while.
I spent the night in a hotel in Bloomington, so I wouldn't have to drive to Fairmont and back in 12 hours.
I'm off to LA again this morning. I think I'll be on Jimmy Kimmel Live this evening, although that's not confirmed yet. I'll post more when I know.
