Texas Renaissance Festival - new website! -- posted by JohnPaul on Thursday, March 29, 2007 9:23PM
Harken Ye, Lords and Ladies, to News from the Realm.

The King and Queen hath put forth the following proclamation: The 2007 Texas Renaissance Festival's NEW website awaits thy viewing pleasure. Please visit us at http://www.texrenfest.com/ for information and to purchase tickets.

The King and Queen are also pleased to announce the dates for the 2007 Auditions are May 5th and May 12th. For more information on auditions visit us at http://www.texrenfest.com

Wishing you, adventure, merriment, magic and romance, Texas Renaissance Festival

IPTV rennie group photo. -- posted by JohnPaul on Thursday, March 29, 2007 5:52PM
I have posted the group photo IPTV took of all of us to the DMRF IPTV photo/blog site:

http://web.mac.com/allenhuffman/iWeb/IPTV%202007/Blog/Blog.html [more...]

A message about internet radio from Crocoyle. -- posted by JohnPaul on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 11:12PM
Hello everyone,

Thank you to everyone who responded so quickly to my Internet Radio plea. It's only through action from the general public that we can change these unreasonable and unfair rules that they are trying to push onto independent Internet Broadcasters, broadcasters who PAY to play the music on our stations--unlike radio stations!

There is another website you can visit to learn more on what you can do to keep this very valuable and beneficial media alive, pay a visit to www.savethestreams.org and please sign the petition. Every little bit helps, and I sincerely thank all of you for doing anything you can.

And, as I said before, please visit http://www.live365.com/choice/ for information as well.

Oh, and one more thing, my email address is crocolyle sbcglobal.net and not earthlink.net, somehow my old earthlink addy got attached to my last email. The sbcglobal.net address is my valid one.

Thanks again to everyone!!!

L M Stewart
---------------------------------
My crappy webpage!
http://crocolyle.atthefaire.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
My Haunted Mansion at Disneyland
internet radio station!
http://www.live365.com/stations/krokodyle
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Gift of Love -- posted by JohnPaul on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 8:39PM
The Gift of Love organization was at Iowa Public TV with the Des Moines Ren Faire crew a few weekends ago, and they have now posted some pics (including some I took, with credit -- always nice!).

http://www.giftoflove.org/communitysupportIPTV.htm [more...]

Pics from the DMRF IPTV gathering. -- posted by JohnPaul on Sunday, March 25, 2007 5:01PM
On St. Patrick's Day, a group of Des Moines Ren Faire performers donated a few hours to Iowa Public Television to answer phones during their pledge drive. Photos have been posted at:

http://web.mac.com/allenhuffman/iWeb/IPTV%202007 [more...]

Lincolnshire Renaissance Faire (Illinois) update -- posted by JohnPaul on Saturday, March 24, 2007 12:28AM
LINCOLNSHIRE RENAISSANCE FAIRE
October 12-13-14th (11am to 6pm)
Decatur Conference Center pond park near I-72 & Hwy #36

A celebration of Olde World European history & culture with a sampling of 'World Culture' exhibits. Nationally touring comedy acts, music groups, crafts artisans, food purveyors and an authentic horseback jousting show. The opening friday is a Student Education Day and Senior Citizen's Preview with discounted tickets. Admission: friday -$8/$5, sat/sunday - $10/$5.

INFO: http://www.lincolnshirefaire.com
greg@festint.com Tel. #217-420-8714 [more...]

Medieval Minnesota summer learning experience! -- posted by JohnPaul on Friday, March 23, 2007 8:33PM
Medieval Minnesota is a unique summer learning experience appropriate for students ages 14 to 17. It consists of a one-week, boarding camp that re-imagines life in the Middle Ages. In addition to medieval history, students will learn to develop a medieval character, build a medieval costume, juggle, dance, play tunes on medieval instruments, and perform authentic medieval stories, songs, and plays. The camp is geared toward training students for a graduation performance to be held at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.

Augsburg College is nationally known for its inter-disciplinary, experiential teaching in Medieval Studies. Its “Medieval Connections” course has been featured in Renaissance magazine, Teaching History, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and on Minnesota Public Radio. It is # 6 on College Bound's list of "25 Cool, Funky, and Controversial Classes."

http://www.augsburg.edu/medievalstudies [more...]

Colorado Medeival Festival is alive and well! -- posted by JohnPaul on Thursday, March 22, 2007 5:41PM
Colorado Medieval Festival© is alive and well!
June 1, 2 and 3, 2007

I know that we have been very quite for a while, since our last Colorado Medieval Festival© event in 2006 and we have contacted you.

I just want to let you know that we are alive and well with plans well underway to host our next event. Colorado Medieval Festival© is planned for June 1, 2 and 3 of 2007. The location is Monfort Park in Greeley, CO. This time not dusty fields, working with the Greeley parks department we are able to host this year’s event in a beautifully grassed park. The address is 4701 24th St, Greeley, CO 80634, just north of SH-34 on 47th avenue. You cannot miss this 37-acre park. The festival is at the north end of the park and the entry is from 20th street.

Much has been in the planning for some exciting changes this year. We have incorporated many new acts and attractions. This year we will add an archery contest open to everyone, a children’s fantasy fun activities area for the younger ones to be creative and learn a little about history. In addition, several new acts have been added and other entertainment for the entire family to enjoy.

This year we will also be including an evening event on June 2 starting at 7pm and running through 11pm, with several local bands ranging the breadth of musical entertainment. Separate admission is required for this event. Music will include Celtic, R/B and more.

Tickets for both events are now on sale at all King Soopers stores and online at TicketsWest. Be sure to place this on your calendar and get your tickets early. Free parking with advanced tickets and enter directly through the main gates. You will not have to exchange tickets like last year.

A flyer is now ready should you wish to help get the word out about this year’s event, just click on this link or paste it into your browser, http://www.medievalworld.us/coloradocastle/2007CMF-Flyer2pgs.pdf. This looks good in color or black and white. It is two pages (front and back) so you can print only the front or both if you like. As always, any assistance is greatly appreciated and makes it possible to continue to bringing you this wonderful event in Northern Colorado.

You can always find out more and keep track of the event information from our website.

We look forward to another enjoyable season for you, your family and friends.

Colorado Medieval Festival©
www.ColoradoCastle.com

Colorado Medieval Festival© was conceived as an fun and educational festival and is being held for the third time in Northern Colorado, Colorado Medieval Festival(c) is a “Reflection of the middle ages”. The theme of the event is “Knowledge through Re-Creation”. Colorado Medieval Festival(c) is significantly different then other similar themed events in the state and was organized in support of the grander concept of a permanent year around living history site called Medieval World, USA©.

The end of RenRadio... -- posted by JohnPaul on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 8:44PM
(It looks like the days of internet radio are, once again, numbered... Long live podcasting and podsafe music!)

Renradio has been broadcasting since 1999. I've fought and worked hard to keep it on the net and free. I have made many compromises as big business has tried to push the small web casters out of business and control what you listen to just like terrestrial radio and satellite radio. I never wanted to compete with them I just wanted to listen to the music I like and share it with the few others that like it too. Over the years Renradio went from something I set up to play with and listen to at work to peak at 3 stream station with over a thousand listeners. I was voted as one of the best Celtic and Folk station on Yahoo. I don't play Pop music or anything mainstream but the RIAA and big record labels still wanted (more) money. I joined Live365 the 1st time the RIAA raised the rates so I could keep playing even though I had to let them insert commercials and take a vow of poverty and not make any money off the station. Not that I ever intended to. It was a hobby, it was for fun.

I made so many new friends, met so many new artist. I gained a bit of notoriety and fame within our community as "Rengeek the owner of Renradio". It got me free beers and plenty of thanks and compliments. And to my amazement people donated money and their talents to keep this thing going. Truthfully this is what has kept me going when my life took a turn for the worse. I don't want it to go away.

But the apathy and willingness for this country, and it's government, to let big business do what they want no matter who's freedom it steps on or what they take in the name of money leaves me with little choice. I can not justify the hundreds of dollars they will demand or the hundreds of dollars they want retroactively to continue this station. I frankly don't have the money or the energy to continue to fight alone. I'm tired, so very tired of the fight.

We all like a story such as David and Goliath, but in the end we all know it is just a fable.

From Rain:

The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has announced its decision on Internet radio royalty rates, rejecting all of the arguments made by Webcasters and instead adopting the "per play" rate proposal put forth by SoundExchange(a digital music fee collection body created by the RIAA).

RAIN has learned the rates that the Board has decided on, effective retroactively through the beginning of 2006. They are as follows:

2006 $.0008 per performance
2007 $.0011 per performance
2008 $.0014 per performance
2009 $.0018 per performance
2010 $.0019 per performance

A "performance" is defined as the streaming of one song to one listener; thus a station that has an average audience of 500 listeners racks up 500 "performances" for each song it plays.

The minimum fee is $500 per channel per year. There is no clear definition of what a 'channel' is for services that make up individualized playlists for listeners.

For noncommercial webcasters, the fee will be $500 per channel, for up to 159,140 ATH (aggregate tuning hours) per month. They would pay the commercial rate for all transmissions above that number.

Participants are granted a 15 day period wherein they have the opportunity to ask the CRB for a re-hearing.

Within 60 days of the final determination, the decision is supposed to be published in the Federal Register, along with any technical corrections that the Board may wish to make.

Within 30 days of publication in the Federal Register, it can be appealed (but only by the participants) to the U.S. Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia.

Rengeek Dee of Jay at Renradio.com

Wild West Music Fest (Des Moines, June 30-July 1) -- posted by JohnPaul on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 12:07PM
There will be a new event at Festival Park (home of the Des Moines Ren Faire) the weekend before July 4th. On June 30 and July 1, the Wild West Music Fest (http://www.wildwestmusicfest.com) will take place. It will feature live music, wild west entertainment (like shootouts and such) and craft merchants Oh yeah, and food, beer and other stuff.

This event is produced by Rabbit Hole LLC (myself, Kevin Coble and Max Kenkel). Sleepy Hollow will be handling parking, drinks and beer for the event.

Merchants interested (any type of merchandise that would fit the country music target audience) is invited. Some of the festival park buildings will be available for rent for the weekend.

A merchant meeting will be held at Sleepy Hollow Sports Park this coming Saturday (March 24). RSVP to Max Kenkel. Max at wildwestmusicfest.com. Details on website soon.

So let your crafter friends know. While country music isn't my thing (maybe we'll have some classic rock too), I think the wild west stuff will be fun.

There may even be helicopter rides and stuff.

Info line: 515-331-8211 [more...]

Four Shillings Short returns to Iowa. -- posted by JohnPaul on Monday, March 19, 2007 5:27PM
Hello from Christy and Aodh Og of Four Shillings Short:

It's been 2 years since we were last in Iowa but on March 26th we'll leave the West Coast and come East to tour from the Rockies to the Atlantic.
We have loads of new songs to share and even more instruments in our ensemble than before. Our web page has all the details of our upcoming US tour:

http://www.fourshillingsshort.com

Below is a list of our upcoming concerts in Iowa.
Please invite your family and friends to come enjoy the music.
Hope to see you soon.
Peace,
Christy and Aodh Og/Four Shillings Short

IOWA CONCERTS:
SUNDAY: APRIL 1
2:00 - 4:00PM
AMES PUBLIC LIBRARY
515 Douglas Ave.
Ames, IA
(515) 232-6211
free to the public

MONDAY: APRIL 2
7:00 to 8:00pm
KUNI - Iowa Public Radio
LIVE FROM STUDIO ONE w/Karen Impola
University of Northern Iowa -Communications Bldg.
Cedar Falls, IA
(319) 273-6487

THURSDAY: APRIL 5
6:00 to 8:00pm
RITUAL CAFÉ
1301 Locust St. (btw Grand &Locust)
Des Moines, IA
(515) 288-4872
donation

FRIDAY: APRIL 6
9:00 to Midnight
JAMESONS PUBLIC HOUSE
310 East 4th Street
Waterloo, IA
(319) 233-0701

SATURDAY: APRIL 7
House Concert
Des Moines, IA
7:00 concert
call for info (515) 277-6329
or email: bjoens@mchsi.com

TUESDAY: APRIL 10
8:00 to 11:00pm
THE MILL
120 E. Burlington St.
Iowa City, IA
(319) 351-9529
$5.00 cover

THURSDAY: APRIL 12
10:30 to 11:20am
AUGUSTANA COLLEGE - Convocation
Wallenburg Hall in the Denkmann Building
Rock Island, IL
(309) 794-7328

THURSDAY: APRIL 12
7:00 to 9:30pm
AUGUSTANA COLLEGE - CONCERT
Wallenburg Hall in the Denkmann Building
Rock Island, IL
(309) 794-7328
free to the public

FRIDAY: APRIL 13
8:00 to midnight
RIVER MUSIC EXPERIENCE
131 W. 2nd St.
Davenport, IA
(877) 326-1333
$6.00 cover
Opener 8-9pm
Four Shillings Short: 9 - 12pm [more...]

Des Moines "Apprentice Cast Workshop" -- posted by JohnPaul on Monday, March 19, 2007 5:26PM
(This item submitted by Troy of http://RuttersRamblings.com)

The DES MOINES RENAISSANCE FAIRE is offering an "Apprentice Cast Workshop" directed by professional actress and Renaissance festival veteran Nicole Skelly of New York. It will take place on a weekly basis at Sleepy Hollow Sports Park starting on April 7th.

From this workshop there will be a casting of festival village characters who will make up some of the core troop of actors who will have identifiable personas at the September festival in its new theme park. They will undergo a disciplined training during the summer months.

In addition, the production team of the Renaissance festival are also planning to produce a movie short and a feature indie production at Festival Park over the course of the next year.

Prospective performers can contact Ms. Skelly {Director of the Apprentice Cast}, directly, at ravenlocks16 (nospam) @yahoo.com.

For other festival information, you can call producer-director Gregory Schmidt at (641) 357-5177.

Gilkeyshire Renaissance Faire update. -- posted by JohnPaul on Sunday, March 18, 2007 9:39PM
Greetings from
Gilkeyshire Renaissance Faire,
Vertigo Productions
Gilkeyshire Dates are June 16, 17, 23, 24, 2007.
Held in beautiful Kearsley Park in the cultural center of Flint Michigan.

Gilkeyshire Renaissance Faire is in its fourth year of production and is growing. As a juried artisan faire,Gilkeyshire focuses on local artisans, crafters, and entertajners. Artisans, craft demonstrators, and performers from all over the state of Michigan will be here ! Shiabruck Medieval Re-enactment group will set up their period camp.

Jewelry makers, sculptors, and various vendors will be here for your shopping pleasure.
Don't let your guard down because even your dearest friend can have you jailed or thrown in the stocks.
In the mood for a little good clean fun? Drench-A-Wench or Soak-A-Bloke for charity.
The Village Idiot is on the loose.

If you would like to part of the excitement and magic Gilkeyshire Renaissance Faire! Reply soon Applications for entertainers Vendors and Food Vendors Available through the following contacts:

Christina 810 730 8904
Email: Gilkeyshirerenfaire@hotmail.com

Find out more at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GilkeyshireRF/
or
http://www.myspace.com/gilkeyshirerenfaire

Tartanic sinks. -- posted by JohnPaul on Sunday, March 18, 2007 1:08AM
I'm going to try hard to get back in the swing of things after the sad news earlier this week, so here's a new item submitted by Tina B...

Just wanted to pass along the news that Tartanic, a musical group that has played at several Midwestern ren faires has decided to throw in the towel. They are currently performing at the Arizona ren faire which will be their last huzzah.

http://www.tartanic.com [more...]

Loss of a friend, Brad Nelson ("King Oberon"). -- posted by JohnPaul on Thursday, March 15, 2007 7:07PM
It is with great sadness that I have to post another sad news item. Apparently, our friend Brad Nelson passed away last Tuesday from Asthma complications. Brad was known in and around Iowa as "King Oberon," the faery king, along with his family. A photo of him is on the opening page of this site, and you may have seen him last year at the Des Moines Renaissance Faire:

King Oberon

...or playing the Tin Woodsman at the Pumpkin Festival, or even as Father Christmas at the Clear Lake Iowa Victorian event. If you've been to any of these events, you'll no doubt know who I speak of.

I'm not good at these types of posts, so I'll just make the mention here, and provide more details later. Suffice it to say that he was one of those genuinly nice people that was instantly friendly -- something not as common as it should be these days.

I'm not in a very wordy mood at the moment, so, that's the news. Sad as it may be. Prayers to his family.

Merry Measure touring update... -- posted by JohnPaul on Friday, March 9, 2007 10:34PM
(From the lovely Wendy Z...)

As if you're likely to forget...

St. Patricks Day is getting close, so just a quick reminder that you can see Merry Measure in the side room at Durty Nellies Pub in Palatine Illinois on Saturday 3/17 from 3:00 to 6:00 PM. There is an $8 cover, but admission is FREE if you arrive before 2PM - a good reason to get there early, catch the last set from Molly & The Tinker, and hopefully have good seats for our show!

Get Medieval over Memorial Day!

We are also pleased to announce that we will be appearing over Memorial Day weekend at the Woden Thor Medieval Faire and Joust in Viroqua, WI (about 35 miles SW of LaCrosse WI). Also appearing will be our good friends Mistress Bawd and The Shattock School of Defense! http://www.tribewodenthor.org/festival/ for more info

As always, you can find complete schedule information at www.merrymeasure.com

How we do things...

Just to let you know how we do things - a gig isn't "official" until we receive a signed contract. Once that happens we post complete info on the site. However, the contract process takes time, so we will sometimes list a date as "TBA", which just means we have agreed to be somewhere but it's not in writing yet. Wouldn't want you to get your hopes up or anything....

Wendy Zdrodowski -Maid of All Work
Merry Measure

Three Pints Gone (musical group) Wisconsin performances. -- posted by JohnPaul on Thursday, March 8, 2007 6:02PM
3/16/07 Fri. Night 8-11pm NEW!
McBob's Restaurant & Pub - 3 Pints Gone & Michi Regier
4919 W. North Ave., Milwaukee, WI. Question? 414-871-5050
FAMILY SHOW first 2 hours.

3/17/06 11am-2pm
McBob's Restaurant & Pub - 3 Pints Gone & Michi Regier
4919 W. North Ave., Milwaukee, WI.
Question? 414-871-5050 - Robert OR email them at RMcBobs@aol.com
****Come for lunch - the best corn beef in town!

3/17/06 5-9:00pm FAMILY SHOW
Killarney's Corner Restaurant & Pub - 3 Pints Gone & Michi Regier
NB64 W23246 Main Street, Sussex. Wisconsin 53089. Questions?
Call Killarney's at 262-246-3457 or see www.foodspot.com/killarneys
****Come for dinner and stay for the music!

Best Regards,
Kathleen
www.3pintsgone.com

Rabbit's Foot Meadery -- posted by JohnPaul on Saturday, March 3, 2007 12:10PM
Has anyone out there ever tried the mead from Rabbit's Foot Meadery?

http://www.rabbitsfootmeadery.com/

If so, what did you think? [more...]

Iowa Public Television & Des Moines Ren Faire -- posted by JohnPaul on Thursday, March 1, 2007 5:50PM
(This news from Lynne of the Des Moine Renaissance Faire...)

Please notify me ASAP if you can participate in the following:

On Saturday, March 17th from about 5:45 PM until approximately 11:00 PM, volunteers from the Des Moiens Renaissance Faire will be needed to answer telephones for the Iowa Public Television "festival telethon" to raise money for IPTV. They provide us with a simple script and it is very easy and low-key. Food is provided and they want us in costume!!! It will be a great first opportunity to promote the Des Moines Renaissance Faire, bond as performers and just have fun!

Let me know if you can participate!

Lynne Melssen
Community Relations Director
Des Moines Renaissance Faire
e-mail at: http://dmrenfaire.com/contact_lynne.shtml

(My understanding is that there are only 25 spots available, and certain costume requirements, etc. must be met so not everyone who may want to help out will be able to this time, but there are going to be many other appearance opportunities for those who want to get involved. My advice is to contact Lynne and get on the list to be invited to various meetings. Getting involved is the best way to ... er, be involved. Or something. -JP) [more...]

Arizona Ren Fest video journal... -- posted by JohnPaul on Thursday, March 1, 2007 4:44PM
My friends Horse and Rabbit have posted a video taken last week at the Arizona Renaissance Festival. It features clips of the London Broil, Tortuga Twins, Zilch and many many others we see in our area too at Minnesota, Kansas City, etc. Amazingly (to me), the AZ Ren Fest looks much like the larger Midwest events (unless you see the scenery and lack of grass). Drop by and take a look:

http://www.horseandrabbit.com/Play/

Subscribe, while you are at it. They have a number of videos from California events (their home base) and also post them as streaming videos on YouTube.com so you don't have to download the huge files.

Enjoy! [more...]