Masters of the Fiddle (Review)

Last night I had the privelege of seeing Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy in concert.  Canadian fiddlers, both from professional music families, they are truly an inspiration as they dazzled with their talents.

Natalie from Cape Breton plays original and traditional Cape Breton fiddle, as well as other styles, superbly.  Donnell (whose father was a fiddler and his mother was a pianist, step dancer and singer), is also from Canada, and was inspired by Irish and French fiddlers, as well as his parents and siblings growing up.  Each has their band they travel with, and now they they are touring together as a family with their own kids.  Amazing.  They even had three of their little ones perform (ages 5, 4, and 2!) dancing, and the oldest, Frances Marie, also played a fiddle tune.

They don't just play.  Natalie also does a form of tap dancing that resembles Irish hardshoe but the foot movements are distinctly different.  The music of Cape Breton is from Scotland, as the Scotts settled there.  It follows that the dance they practice grew into a kind of hybrid between Canadian, perhaps a little Irish, and some Appalachian clogging.  She can even dance while playing (though not as elaborately as Kelly Trottier, or Jon Pilatzki, American Irish fiddlers).  Donnell's sister Erin and Natalie's bandmate Max accompanied them on piano, and both of them are also wonderful Canadian dancers.

I'm very eager to hear the music from their respective bands, but this group, the four we heard last night, prove an incredible blend of traditional, original, and emotional music, truly a wonder to behold.

Travelling

On my second time flying with Frontier, I like this airline even more.  Both my flights were on time according to schedule, and the landings were smooth (not like those Continental pilots in July... was it the co-pilot's first time?  We came in way too steeply, then WHUMP!!).

I also love that they have beautiful photos of wild animals in the terminals, along the jetways, and on the huge tail wings of the planes.  Not to mention (trumpet fanfare) warm chocaolate chip COOKIES in flight!

Man it's warm and humid here.  And the mosquitos!  I remember those tiny bastards (and my skin sure does).  Almost there.  Been traveling all day since 7am.

Leather On!

Finally dug out my leather and found some good-looking scraps to make my Assassin armor with.  That and the Super Sculpy for the insignias.  This is gonna be challenging, which is why I've been putting it off, but at the same time it will be very gratifying to learn something new and add to my costuming repertoire!

I'll only be doing the basics for now:  pauldron, belt & pouches, bracer.  Then maybe later on try for some of the other armor:  chest plate, greeves, metal glove, boot buckles.

I watched another episode on the Medici's, this one about Lorenzo's son & nephew in the early 1500's after the popularity and splendor of Lorenzo.  Michaelangelo made "David" in betrayal of the family that took him in like a son, and it became Florence's symbol of the City.  Though he was not yet a painter, he was also appointed to paint La Capella Sistina, the Sistine Chapel ceiling, at which he was expected to fail.  He did not, of course; though he hated every moment of it.  The cousins each became Popes, there was civil war in Italy, and Pope Clement married off his niece Catherine to a French prince, so the influence of the Medici's spread to France.  I'm guessing the next and final episode will be about Catherine de Medici.

That's all for now.  On to crafting!

Renascimiento Research

I've been watching a series on Netflix about the Medici family in Renaissance Florence.  Episode 2 stars Lorenzo Il Magnifico and how he became the Godfather of the Renaissance, Il Maestro de la Bottega.  Playing Assassin's Creed II has given me such a fresh heartfelt interest in the Renaissance era, mainly the art and new ideas giving it the name.

Actually, that word Renaissance is French.  Funny how the word we are most familiar with is the French, rather than the Italian Renascimiento, as Italy was where it all began.

When I was studying abroad in Italy, I saw many palazzos, museums, frescos, cathedrals, scupltures, you name it.  I was practically drowned in art every field trip.  But I only ever mildly appreciated it.  I paid more attention to the splendid architecture (which was, after all, one of the focuses of my study abroad, along with landscape).  I think I did not care overly much for the art partially because it was simply an overload.  But now, playing Assassin's Creed, watching shows, researching online, I get a little at a time, enough to digest and retain.

Another great thing is that I get more ideas for fleshing out the book I'm writing.  It is a historical romance based in Renaissance Italy, loosely based on an old Irish folk song, with a slightly different, happier, ending.  Since the song actually has several variations across Europe (not just Irish), I am taking the artistic leave to change it myself.  Wiki has an informative entry, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twa_Sisters.  I tried writing my story with the traditional ending, and while it was easy, it did not feel right, felt like the "quick and easy choice is usually not the right one" kind of thing.  After writing the alternate ending, it felt much better, like that is where the story really wants to go.

Halloween Preparations

All Hallow's Eve, my favorite time of year, filled with the autumn delights of pumpkin pie, apple bobbing, pomegranate juicing, and oh yeah... costumes!!  This is the time when I get to don a crazy costume and sink into a character for several hours. 

This year's theme at the Roach party is Star Trek, Star Wars, and (although the invitations didn't say it) I'm also going to add Stargate.  I will be going as a wraith from Stargate Atlantis.  The key for this costume is not so much the costume (usually long black gothic-like dress made of pleather), but more the special FX makeup:  white and green pasty complexion, cheek slits, brow ridges, pointed teeth and claws, and feeding organs in the palms.

My plan is to make a black bodice with shiny sheer material textured like insect scales, which I'll back some thick dark tapestry fabric.  I also found some nice silver fabric that looks like veins in an insect's wings, which I'll use to make a sort of cape, and then I'll just add a black skirt.  After studying lots of TV photos of the wraith queens (which all have very different outfits), I've surmised that a degree of imagination and variety are allowed -- like with the Star Wars Jedi in Ep. 2.

For the makeup, some acrylic white cream will do, with green and black shadows, sponge, stipple sponge, small makeup brush.  There is a pretty good guide here on YouTube.  I also got some small prosthetic "cuts" which are for the wrists but they are small enough to put on the cheeks.  I might end up getting another pair to use on the palms.

I made the dark backing bodice, was just about to add the back extension, when, cazzo! my sewing machine decided to crap out once again!  It had been working just fine until right then, the stitching looked fine from the top, but on the other side looked like merda.  I hate it when thread gets wasted like that!  So now I need to ask John to try to fix it tomorrow.

Now I'm yawning so big every few minutes my jaw feels like it's going to break, so it's time for bed.