06-11-2006, 09:39 PM
Lemme tell ya, a Barbarian Festival sounds much better than my Poconos escapade.
I went there for the Zhang San Feng Festival (http://www.taichifest.com/) I've been part of ZSF for 4 years now I think. It started out as this sort of communal gathering at a retreat called the Tai Chi farm. Unfortunately, the master who founded it was killed in a tragic car accident and the students lost the farm quite literally. It was reborn and I came into the picture. Now it's at East Stroudsberg University, very close to Frank Frazetta's home and museum, coincidently, which is run by his widow. I think I blogged it on the old killed-by-Greg forum. For that reason, I'll blog it here. It doesn't really deserve it's own thread, and it'll make an amusing side story to HK's fine pilgrimage (can't wait to hear about the Barbarian Fest).
Anyway, ZSF is a bunch of Tai Chi LARPers, basically. It's the only place I teach, just because the skill level is low. This year's trip was painful. My flight there was nightmarish. Friday, 6:30 AM out of Oakland and I'm sick, coughing so hard that I'm spitting up on the way from Long Term Parking to the terminal. I get to DFW to find my flight cancelled and I'm re-routed through O'Hare, where I experience two major delays. A 9-hour trip accordians out to 15 hours. I'm sick as a dog, frightening all my plane neighbors with wicked coughing fits, and thinking '15 hours? I could get to China in that time...' They house us in dorm rooms and there's no fucking hot water. To make matters worse, it rains on Saturday; I didn't pack any rain gear and it's a long walk from the dorms to the Festival halls. It's a lot of walking in general. I have to give a talk on writing, but fortunately, I have a mike and it goes ok. The whole weekend is a monster schmooze fest, like any of my business trips, I'm expected to talk and talk and talk, which I do on torn-up vocal chords. Sunday I do a sword seminar, and I'm sick and seeing double. Fortunately, of the 20 or so attendees, only 3 have ever touched a sword before, so it's pretty remedial (this is the sharp end, hold the other end). Right after that, it's a long ride home, another 9+ hours, from EWR to DFW to OAK. I'm absolutely terrifying on the plane, coughing fits that go for several minutes as I struggle with my cough drops. I'm like that for a few days upon my return - really took one for the team on that. This weekend was filled with rest and codeine cough syrup, so I feel much better now.
HK, I was just about to sell my collection of Conan books. They're all in decent condition, paperbacks from the 80's, I can't remember the edition. They're going to Half Price books, unless I hear anyone wants them.
I went there for the Zhang San Feng Festival (http://www.taichifest.com/) I've been part of ZSF for 4 years now I think. It started out as this sort of communal gathering at a retreat called the Tai Chi farm. Unfortunately, the master who founded it was killed in a tragic car accident and the students lost the farm quite literally. It was reborn and I came into the picture. Now it's at East Stroudsberg University, very close to Frank Frazetta's home and museum, coincidently, which is run by his widow. I think I blogged it on the old killed-by-Greg forum. For that reason, I'll blog it here. It doesn't really deserve it's own thread, and it'll make an amusing side story to HK's fine pilgrimage (can't wait to hear about the Barbarian Fest).
Anyway, ZSF is a bunch of Tai Chi LARPers, basically. It's the only place I teach, just because the skill level is low. This year's trip was painful. My flight there was nightmarish. Friday, 6:30 AM out of Oakland and I'm sick, coughing so hard that I'm spitting up on the way from Long Term Parking to the terminal. I get to DFW to find my flight cancelled and I'm re-routed through O'Hare, where I experience two major delays. A 9-hour trip accordians out to 15 hours. I'm sick as a dog, frightening all my plane neighbors with wicked coughing fits, and thinking '15 hours? I could get to China in that time...' They house us in dorm rooms and there's no fucking hot water. To make matters worse, it rains on Saturday; I didn't pack any rain gear and it's a long walk from the dorms to the Festival halls. It's a lot of walking in general. I have to give a talk on writing, but fortunately, I have a mike and it goes ok. The whole weekend is a monster schmooze fest, like any of my business trips, I'm expected to talk and talk and talk, which I do on torn-up vocal chords. Sunday I do a sword seminar, and I'm sick and seeing double. Fortunately, of the 20 or so attendees, only 3 have ever touched a sword before, so it's pretty remedial (this is the sharp end, hold the other end). Right after that, it's a long ride home, another 9+ hours, from EWR to DFW to OAK. I'm absolutely terrifying on the plane, coughing fits that go for several minutes as I struggle with my cough drops. I'm like that for a few days upon my return - really took one for the team on that. This weekend was filled with rest and codeine cough syrup, so I feel much better now.
HK, I was just about to sell my collection of Conan books. They're all in decent condition, paperbacks from the 80's, I can't remember the edition. They're going to Half Price books, unless I hear anyone wants them.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse