Intermezzo: I’m A Fangirl

Well, at least sometimes, and at least concerning one special band.

Coppelius, who might have thought of that.

And due to this fact I simply had finally to get a fan shirt at the last concert. Actually, I thought my band shirt days were done – I wore the last one when I was still at my old grammar school back in 2006 or 07. But as Coppelius isn’t just any metal band with slaying heros as a motif, here I go again.

Quiet Please!

The shirt refers to Bastille’s sign for the audience.

Applause - A little blurry, I fear.

It even worked on the camp ground while I was packing at Sunday morning: Every time I turned around, our neighbors began to applaud. ^^

And finally I go myself another patch and more buttons – buttons, for you can never have enough of them (at least when they look quite well), and another patch as I couldn’t decide where to put the first one as I can’t patch it somewhere else, then… If you know what I mean.

One will land on the lest arm of my upcoming parkacorps (I’ll explain that another day) and the other one… I still don’t have a clue. ^^

Top Hat Plans and Fairy Shirts

As I said before there are no pictures of me during the weekend I could show you. But what I can show you are pictures of Bambi and Jules and the shirt I made for the latter.

Bambi, spending the weekend pirately. Arrr.

During the festival, Jules and the Scoundrel came up with the idea of top hats with drawers – and instantly looked at me. Being seen as someone who is able to craft about everything is really flattering sometimes. ^^
Somehow, I liked the idea, and as I wanted to sew a felt top hat for myself this late summer anyway, I’ll surely try.

Jules is in sepia for a reason. First of all, he wore his justaucorps, which nearly forces me to use an effect on the picture, and second, the turquoise of his shirt didn’t match the blue of the jacket in my opinion (but I’m not very fond of turquoise at all). I think the picture shows Jules exalted and flamboyant demeanour pretty well. He’s definitely more laid-back than four years ago.

On the festival day itself – Saturday – he wore not shadows but black shorts, a white shirt, combat boots, the justaucorps and a t-shirt I made for him. It’s somewhat like a coming-out on fabric, and he loved it although I really had to hurry to finish the stencil to the date.

Picture taken by Jules

It’s silver on a white base with pink corners and accents, glittery spots-on-purpose-to-make-it-look-artistic and bright raspberry coloured wings with extra glitter. I really like the symbolism the shirt bears, but that’s a hobby of mine, anyway. Light the way out of the closet with a paper lantern of fairy festivities, ring the bells for radical self-love and announcement of a new era of your life and turn to break new ground!

I also made a top for myself but as it is part of a series I don’t want to show you until the whole project is finished.

Favourite Words in July

1. Arboreal. Related to trees.
2. Changeling. Born by a fair folk mother, raised by human parents. There’s a P&P RPG of this name, as well, that I might try some day as someone from my roleplaying group even owns the book.
3. Meripihka. Finnish for amber, my favourite “gemstone”.
4. Numismatik. German for the lore of coins, tokens and money in general.
5. Honorific. All the -sama, -kun, -chan and o-stuff that you get in the Japanese language.

Back Without Pictures

Oh well, no, I didn’t manage to write something about my festival wardrobe. Which means that I’ll have to plan a little sooner next year. But there are no photos of my outfit or me in general, anyway, which results from the fact that I was the only one in our group to bring a camera. There aren’t any pictures of the bands, too, which is caused by the fact that I’m quite small compared with all those people who stood in front of me… you know what I mean.

The Veldenstein Castle festival itself was great, my personal highlights being ASP and, as always and expected, my beloved Coppelius. I got sunburned although it rained all Friday to Saturday morning and then the sky was covered with clouds and the evening was really, really chilly. The scoundrel was so nice to cook for us (we’ve got a deal that he’s to cook in spring and summer and I’m to be the kitchen fairy in autumn and winter) and hot, good food is worth a lot in cold, damp July nights.

As for my highlight bands, here’s a short summary:

ASP, being the head liner of the evening, started playing at 10 P.M. and as soon as we had found us a nice place on the green quite in the back of the festival ground but still in sight of the stage, Jules diffused into the crowd after we told him that ASP are quite electronic. ^^ Well, our place was well-chosen as we had more space than anyone right in front of the stage for dancing, and without space, dancing isn’t half as much fun… Bambi didn’t dance, though, as he’s pretty convinced that “nobody wants to see that, anyway” so he got our supply bag and wandered though the masses during the concert. I think my favourite song of the evening was Krabat, and it was really, really sweet of ASP to play a tribute to Dio at the end.

Coppelius, as my favourite band, were great as they were supposed to be. They introduced some songs from their upcoming album of which I especially liked the one about Bastille’s life as a butler. Bastille quite surprised the audience by *gasp* undressing on stage (he kept his underwear on, by the way), which didn’t  have any effect on his splendid performance, though. The other gentlemen were great, too, of course, especially when the eternal conflict between Max Copella and Le Comte Caspar had some moments on stage during some songs. Even Graf Lindorf was involved, and only Sissy Voss kept his stiff upper lip. For Nobusama joined the “Undress!”-chorus for his butler… ^^ The Scoundrel had never heard them before, at least not being aware of it but he had a quite good time, too, I dare say.

When we came home last night – after a stopover in Aschaffenburg again, after which my mother kindly decided to drive us to the Frankfurt central train station as “it would have been quite a Oddyssee otherwise” (her own words) – the Scoundrel headed home for a little rest while I took a nice, hot bath with lotus bathing salt and Anne of Green Gables – The Sequel until my beloved returned to make a wonderful dinner out of the leftover from the weekend.

And now, after I told you about the past three days, I’ve got to hurry up with my breakfast as my first Breton lesson starts at 9 A.M..

A Beginning and An End

… And something that goes on.

The beginning is of the time with my new glasses. Finally I got them and it’s way more comfortable to be able to choose between contacts and glasses than to wear contacts only. Furthermore I tend to nod off when watching moving pictures late at night, and it’s not too healthy to do that with small pieces of plastic in your eyes…

I found it hard to get an exemplar that would suit me – my old glasses (which broke into pieces about two years ago) had been nearly perfectly circular, just like Harry Potter’s. But as you can see, I’m quite happy with the oval shape that was the roundest I could get. ^^

The end is the one of our recent roleplay adventure. Today we had the last session in the city of Angbar during dubious events involving one of the aldermen and a manufactory. It all went out well of course, with each of us coming out of the city decked with honour, gratitude and more money than before. Now Tanwen will rest until – estimated – October, but another adventure will come, this time in the world of Grim(m) fairy tales! But most probably not sooner than the second half of August… we’ll see.

And the thing that going on is perhaps the most serious matter in this post. In short, I relapsed, kind of, to the disease I had during the spring. I had to go back on taking antibiotics, but gladly I recognized it soon enough this time so I was able to get to the emergency service about 24 hours after the first sign of illness so I’m definitely doing quite good for the circumstances. The thing that bothers me most is that I’ve got to change some things if I don’t want it to become chronic. It’s nothing too hard, but I miss just the possibility of eating as much sweets and meat as I want. Well, I’ll get used to it. :)

And there, my little update for today will end as I’m supposed to stencil at least four t-shirts until Thursday.

Festival Preparation

As we’re at the middle of July again I think it’s time to write something about one of my personal highlights of the summer during the last four years: Festivals.

I’ve started going to festivals at the age of sixteen what was quite sensible when I look back on it. I don’t think very highly of dragging people to festivals when they aren’t even allowed to stay out after midnight if you follow the law strictly.

This year I’m going to visit Veldenstein Castle for my summer entertainment, mostly for the sake of the ever-genius Coppelius. The other bands are either good enough to dance to or ignorable – one needs a little rest from time to time, even if it’s only a one-day festival. Although I like whole-weekend festivals a lot, one-days are incomparably less stressful. You can take your time to arrive on friday without the schedule of the first concert chasing you and your companions, set up camp with more care when it comes to choosing the place on the campground, enjoy the concerts on saturday and sleep as long as you want until you decide to drive home on sunday.

The most important things to plan for festivals are these:

• Packing space: As for us, we’re going by Bambi’s car which is pretty small (and canary yellow ^^). “Us” refers to Bambi, Jules, the Scoundrel and obviously me. The equation goes as follows: 1 very small car : 4 people x 4 days = Tetris. One of the most sensible things is to open up the sleeping bags and camping mats, place them on the back seat and let the ones who sit in the back settle on a way more luxurious seat. Another one is to place the smallest person on the co-drivers seat. In our case, that’s me. When I’m putting my feet on the seat during the ride the leg room can be stuffed with luggage.
• Food and drink: Well, the first and foremost is something else than ravioli or at least not only ravioli. Don’t get me wrong, I love ravioli, but living on them for three days for breakfast, lunch and dinner is simply too much. Things like cereals and UHT milk, some fruit and other canned things than ravioli can add a little luxury to the trip. Bonus points if you really get to cook something not entirely made of tinned food!
• Outfits and clothes: There is a way to look good, handsome, cute, pretty and entirely awesome on a festival without taking your whole wardrobe with you or ruining your best pieces. I’ll devote a whole post on this next week introducing my own festival outfits for this year. Just keep in mind that thing should be practical, pockets might be a good idea, you’ll most probably need a smaller bag than a giant backpack to carry with you on the festival ground and you will also most probably dance, so leave your high heels and ballerina slippers (they fall off!) at home.

These are my personal basics for a good festival. Of course the music to be played on the car ride is important, too, but as you’re going to the same music festival it’s mostly expected for you to like the same kind of music, isn’t it? And don’t forget to settle who’s sleeping in which tent and who’s to bring which things.

And don’t forget the bottle opener.

Tagged Again

This time by the lovely Lilibeth.

1.What is your favourite flower? The wild rose. I love the scent, the colour, the fruit
2. What is the first thing you get rid of when you come home? Probably my backpack.
3. Have you ever read a book more than twice? How often exactly? Oh. I don’t know anymore, but there are books I’ve read about four to six times. Life on Seacrow Island is one of them.
4. If movies were real in which you would like to take part in? Maybe an adaption of a Jane Austen novel or Anne of Green Gables… or a historical inspired film with lavish costumes.
5. Do you have anything like a talisman you always keep with you? I guess the amber that looks like a honeydrop around my neck counts…
6. What is the silliest purchase you ever made? Oh, I really don’t know. Maybe that jacket that I wanted to alter later (which I didn’t, obviously). At least it was on sale. ^^
7. What is your favourite style/music of/for  dancing? That’s a hard one. I like dancing as a whole, so it’s pretty much every music I can dance to.
8. What is your favourite gateau? Marble cake doesn’t really count, does it? I think it would be something with amounts of chocolate and several soft, spongy layers.

This time I won’t tag anybody else. I think there’s been enough tagging lately here.

10 Pleasures in July

1. Ginger Ale. The slight sparkling when you pour it in your glass, the smell that is only a foretaste of its actual flavour… especially with crushed ice.
   
2. Mika. I like the duality of his songs, great, feet-moving melodies with nearly morbid lyrics and a hint of disco somewhere behind the velvet curtains. Great for the summer.
   
3. Kurt. No, not Kurt Hummel from Glee, but the plant I brought home with me from the field trip last month. I still don’t know what in particular he is, but maybe one of my darling readers can tell me?
   
4. Cherry Tomatoes. Great with mozzarella, basil and litres of balsamic vinegar. Nom.
   
5. MariMite aka. Maria-Sama Ga Miteru, an anime about a group of pupils – the “Roses” – at a catholic girls school with a nice hint on romantic friendships that go a little further…
   
6. Wind. It’s really precious these days, carrying away the hot, sticky summer air to bring a fresher one.
   
7. Wasabi Nuts. Contain wasabi. Do I need another reason?
   
8. New Glasses. I finally ordered some after about two years of living with contacts only! They’re oval, wire rimmed with the colour of a graphite pencil, and I’m definitely looking forward to get them.
   
9. Dragon Boat Races. Our Ivory Tower took part in the one at the village fair last weekend, dressed up as druids and bards. We won neither the race nor the costume competition, but it was great fun, though. Plus, the water was pretty cooling. ^^
   
10. Jostaberries, a crossbreed of blackcurrant and gooseberry that grow in my garden. I’ve already harvested about two pounds of them for a cake and syrup, and there’s even more to come!
    

On Fabricish Concerns

How can it be that I think of three days of not posting anything here as a very long time? I mean, there are blogs out there that don’t get any updates in months! However, to becalm my conscience, here is an update concerning my achieving in fabric relations during the last month, although it might not be that much.

First of all, I bought some fabric at our local warehouse from the ‘on sale’ table, four metres to be precise, in a lovely light grey, originally to make a skirt for Jules’ graduation party from it. But as I fell ill again and therefore improvised instead, the fabric remained at the top of my closet. But then an idea came to me and took form: This fabric would make an incredibly great Steampunk outfit! I’m at the design at the moment, so I’ll have something to show you quite soon.

Second, I finally started to sew some covers for my cushions I got for Christmas. The theme is Fairy Tales and after a quite long process (at least long for me) I decided to go for Jack and The Beanstalk x Jack the Giant Killer and Snow White and Rose Red. As my darling sewing machine has a defect at the moment I had to sew by hand and only managed to begin the backsides (they’re not decorated yet). But now that I know both the tales I want to bring in I’m finally able to make the fronts, too!

And at last, I bought a shawl yesterday. At the village fair there was a stall with beautifully printed draperies and shawls. I simply had to buy one but the decision was a hard one. Finally I got me a square metre of floral cloth with a bright red border in shades of rust, ochre, sand and leaf green with a great Indian inspired pattern that I’m pretty happy with.

By the way, yesterday was my last day of exams for the first year at university! Plus, after weeks of immane heat, it started raining again yesterday evening. It’s not a cloudburst anymore but has become a faint but constant shower that is hardly to notice through the windows which I kept open all night this time, soaking in the fresh air that we all craved for so long.

Castle Johannisburg – Celts at The River

This post will be the last part of my excursion series, this time concerning the exhibition in Aschaffenburg’s Castle Johannisburg. It’s just too hot for a longer introduction,

I’ve got no special plan for the order of the pictures this time, so I’ll just start with this small (really small, just about two inches in length) knife. I like the design very much, would be great for a kitchen knife, too, I think.

May I see this as the sign that Steampunk was also en vogue with the Celts?

No Asterix style winged helmets here, sorry! But aren’t the borders nice and fine? I think an embroidery that looks like this would make an excellent decoration at any medieval or celtic inspired dress.

I’m a girl and as we all know, girls like pretty things so I’ll turn over now to show you the more decorative things from the exhibition.

First of all, a pair of mirrors. Actually, the right one is obviously a replica, but at least it works.

Remember the belt chain parts from Manching? This is a whole of these chains, not as decorative as the other one but still as impressing. I think a celtic girl was able to kill wild animals (or annoying stalkers) with her jewelry, then.

Four warrior torcs and a wild boars’s tooth pendant, maybe a battle talisman.

A skilfully decorated brooch resembling an animal with typical La Tène ornaments.

And last but not least the most impressive piece from the collection, a gold ring with a triskelion and highly filigrane ornaments, a real piece of art. Plus, it makes nice shadows. ^^

These are not all the photos I took in the exhibition, only the ones that came out best and most interesting for non-Celticists. The other exhibits from Johannisburg Castle will be show in another post when I finally returned with Jules to visit the museum only for the baroque furniture, exquisite porcellain, corc models and the great gallery.