Now, I have to disclaim briefly here. This particular LARP didn't have elves or magic missiles because it was Firefly-themed (EDIT: Also, it was not a "boffer LARP", wherein combat is simulated with thrown items and foam weapons). If you haven't seen the show, it's essentially a sci-fi western. It's a pretty cool setting, with this sense of frontier justice and banditry over the backdrop of spaceport cowboy towns. What made this game particularly awesome was that the organizers secured Boomtown at the Western Development Museum for the evening. Boomtown is a historical recreation of a 1910 prairie town. In other words, the perfect place for a bunch of rowdy people with rifles, chaps, and bottles of whiskey to get into brawls and sort out their differences in a duel. What a LARP in this setting looks like is an assortment of characters from the Firefly world milling about and interacting with one another, dropping back into reality only to address real-world issues like lost keys or rules questions. If you were to step into the middle of it, you might actually believe it for a second. It was pretty neat.

The character I was given to play was a gamblin' man named Hugh Fitzroy, traveling from world to world and winning what he could before he got chased out of town. Chris was kind enough to lend me a sweet leather duster and hat, which I combined with a bolo tie and some general cowboy duds. I think I looked awesome, and wish I wore that every day.

Here's a peek, courtesy of Angie. I look sooooo good.

Anyways, as soon as the game began, I strutted into town and started feeling it out. My first meaningful interaction was a curt discussion with the owner of the local mines, who was upset with my regular fleecing of the miners. I brushed him off with characteristic arrogance (Berkley's? His character's?) and carried on. One of my objectives for the evening was to make as much money as possible, then arrange passage off world. I didn't really have much to do with the main story, which concerned a marriage and a defection and other things a gamblin' man tries to steer clear of. But damn I felt good as a backup character. Charm here, mine for information there, and get the hell out when things looked dicey. I quickly lost all my money at poker because I didn't end marking my cards as I would have liked to. However, I spent a good amount of time flirting with the young ladies of the town and eventually charmed my onto not one, but three separate ships. Out of those, I chose the free ticket with two performers (prostitutes?) on a luxury liner headed for the major centres of the galaxy. A pretty good deal, if I may say so myself. Ha ha ha. If only I were that charming in real life.

Yessir, sometimes lady luck don't just smile, she lifts up her skirts and jumps right on top of ya.

-Hugh Fitzroy

I was really impressed with the level of costuming and commitment to their characters that people brought to the game. For any roleplaying experience to be worthwhile, people need to behave consistently and stick to who they are portraying. I honestly had no difficulty believing any of the characters at all. There was a gambling Alliance Major who brought more chips to the table than little old Hugh had ever seen and a schoolteacher who grew wide-eyed at any mention of adventure. I got into a little tiff with a war veteran and avoided the intimidating commander types. I really felt like a Firefly cowboy and had a great time.

Thanks to all the people I had sweet interactions with. I wonder what you're actually like.

Für ich Grund genug ins 20 Kilometer entfernte Altenhausen aufzubrechen und unter die Lupe zu nehmen. Die Bilder will ich Euch nicht vorenthalten:

While youtube is hardly a new phenomenon at this point, the amount of time that I've spent browsing it has grown exponentially in the last year and a half or so.  I thought I'd take a second to list some of the more memorable ones:

1.  This is a great clip from Les Amants Réguliers (The Regular Lovers) set to The Kinks' song, "This Time Tomorrow."  While I've never seen the movie, the clip is of a bunch of people having a great time with what seems like pretty reckless abandon (set in the '60s).  It fits the music pretty perfectly once it gets going, I think.

2.  I love cats.  I've never owned a cat, but I think we get along very well.  I'm lazy, they're lazy... we both like string...  Anyways, this is a pretty funny video that just showed up in the last month or so. The best part is near the end.

3.  I still can't tell if this is real or not...

4.  Continuing with a sports motif.... (this one gets me rolling every time... I think I'm a bad person)

5.  Muse performing Stockholm Syndrome off of the HAARP DVD.  I really wish I owned it so that I could hear this played on a nice sound system.  As it is, however, this performance rocks all kinds of socks.  Even some footy pajamas.

The Intro w/ Knights of Cydonia is pretty great too.

6.  Lightning Bolt.  Need I say more?

7.  This is a really amazing video that an artist (Blu) did of a wall-graffiti coming to life to wreak havoc on the streets of Buenos Ares.  Well, maybe that's not exactly what this is, but it's the best short description I can give it.  Watch.

8.  Here is a video that I showed to some of my students in order to get them thinking about different areas which are showcasing innovation.  In this case: architecture.  Just get past the 2001 opening and it starts to get really cool in how it describes the new rotating skyscraper being built in Dubai.

9.  At the Drive-In playing Arc Arsenal at the Big Day Out concert in '01.  We really don't get that energy and intensity in musical performances anymore.  After seeing The Mars Volta in '03, my friend, Bill, commented that they must store it in their hair.  I wonder what a ginger-fro looks like... (Ahhh!! Carrot Top!! Get away!!!)

10.  Best white-guy-church-dance ever?  Very likely.  Watch the whole thing.

Of course there are plenty of videos I neglected, but these were the ones that came to my mind first.  Enjoy!

Czy MG jest potrzebny?

Na znakomitej większości LARPów, które prowadziłam i w których grałam był to element niezmienny. MG prowadził LARPa, tworzył go, przygotowywał w jakiś sposób, czasem nawet kontrolował. Ciężką sprawą wydaje się usunięcie tego elementu. Niektórzy twierdzą, że jest to niemożliwe ze względu na wpisanie obecności MG w definicję LARPa - coś co nim nie jest będzie przypuszczalnie tylko quasi-teatralnym przedsięwzięciem.

Przykładem gry, która nie potrzebuje MG może być 1-2-3 LARP z strony http://chambergames.wordpress.com/2008/01/07/instant-larp/ . Przeprowadziliśmy dwie takie odsłony, gdzie MG nie był konkretnie wyszczególniony i każdy równoprawnie brał udział w zabawie. Czy był to LARP? Nie ma to sensu stricte scenariusza. Wszystko budowane jest na bieżąco na grze graczy - wymaga to graczy dość aktywnych i chętnych do zabawy, pomysłowych. Przykładowe rozgrywki opisywałam już wcześniej na blogu. Wydawało się to jednak raczej czymś pokroju Mafii, Psychologa - jednak z wyolbrzymionym aspektem aktorskim. Ot, zabawa graniem.

Czyli nie pozbędziemy się Misiów Gry podczas LARPa? Jeśli macie inne zdanie, piszcie:).

Ale na potrzeby tego monologowania założymy, że...

...tego dziada się nie pozbędziemy!

Skoro MG musi zawsze być i mieć swoje miejsce w LARPie, to zastanówmy się na ile można jego rolę ograniczyć?

Może jaka jest rola MG, czym się zajmuje:

- tworzy scenariusz LARPa

- odpowiada na akcje międzydramowe w LARPach cyklicznych

- odpowiada za cały świat poza graczami

- jest ostatecznym lub czasem jedynym sędzią sporów (mechanika)

- dba o organizację spotkania (sala, czas, kontakt z graczami)

... i co jeszcze? CDN

LARP Art. Charcoal and conte crayon on paper. 11″ x 17″ (27.9cm x 43.2cm).

Unframed: $50.00

En stilla middag skapades av bland andra Anna Westerling, även känd som skapare av Höjdpunkt, som enligt utsago ..."skall vara en vitamininjektion i lajv- och rollspelssverige". Jag håller i tre arrangemang under Höjdpunkt. Cesium 133, 3*15 och Existens. Hoppas vi ses där!

The Barking Spider Brothers have a bit of a gas problem - okay, it's a big problem. They fart wherever they go, and MAN are they stinky. Don't believe me? Take a look at the picture above; just a few minutes before I snapped this photo, they were standing in a lovely green forest. One huge fart later, and they're standing in a dead forest.

I mean, just look at the middle brother - he's about ready to explode again already.

Names: Experiment #4128A
Occupation: Lab Rats
Realm: Imhin

Orphaned at a young age, these three lovely ladies (identical twins, btw) were street kids until they were taken in by the seemingly-benevolent Dr. Manfried Surraftor, renowned scientist and black mage. In exchange for giving them food and shelter, he felt at liberty to experiment on them as he wished. Throughout their lives he toyed around with their sugar and caffeine levels, and the end result is what you see before you. One grew freakishly tall (and grew deer antlers, too), while one remained normal, and the third's growth was severely stunted. Also, as an unfortunate misfortune, their senses of smell also went away.

That may sound like bad news for them, but it's great news for the Barking Spider Brothers. They've finally found ladies they can be themselves around. In other words, they found some ladies that they can fart all over. Aw, lucky!!

Nii. Nädalavahetus. Kaks päeva pole kooli. Ma leian et see on ilgelt tore asi. Thanariat nokitsen natuke, aga pigem üritaks enne novembrit ja Nanowrimot hoopiski oma raamatuideedega tegeleda ning võimalikult palju raamatuid lugeda. Varsti avan raamatublogi ka, siis ma ei risusta seda blogi siin oma raamatukriitikaga (mis võib kindlasti mingid inimesed tigedaks ajada, vabandust eks).

Aga olge mõnnad muidu.

*läheb raamatut nuusutama*

NP: Seal - Kiss From A Rose

PS: hämmastav, aga ma ei vihkagi kooli. Ja see ei ole ainult sellest, et ma roosas nunnupilvekeses olen. Maybe I've grown up.

PPS: vanaema toetab minu poliitikaõppimisideed, kuigi minu uus teooria sellest et bakat teha niisama aga mitte karjääri pärast, oli talle vist veidi veider. Ahjaa, ma absoluutselt keeldun karjääri omamast. In your face, society.

PPPS: tänane ühiskonnaõpetuse tund tegi mulle selgeks, et ma kohutavalt kardan kollektivistlikke ühiskondi. Ning Erlessa, mul on nüüd ka hea põhjendus väitele et miks Jaapanisse minevaid võõramaalasi omaks ei võeta. Individualism vs. kollektivism, ning ühes otsas on Eesti ja teises otsas on Jaapan. Ning noh, me pole pilusilmsed ja kollase nahaga kah, vabanda minu rassismi, eksole.

PPPPS: no tyra küll et mitu postskriptumit olla saab.

Names: Polat, Ramos, Tanris (aka The Dough Boys)
Occupations: Comic Mischief
Realm: Ther'eldo

The Dough Boys have made a bit of a name for themselves in Ther'eldo because of their crazy hijinks. These misfits are best known for that time they went cow tipping at a local farm, not knowing that the "cows" were actually just cow-shaped bodybuilding black mages. They got their asses kicked for like 4 hours straight, and videos of them getting drop-kicked by cows circulated in YouTube for quite some time, making them minor internet celebrities.

Mischief aside, these poor guys haven't been too lucky with the women. The thing is, they've grown so close over the years that they refuse to not be in the same room at the same time. This gets a little awkward during two major times - showering and love-making.

Names: Those Crazy Conjoined Twins That Had Surgery
Occupations: Cruising the Talk Show Circuit
Realm: Ther'eldo

These three ladies used to be conjoined triplets, until a few years ago when they elected to be surgically separated. They've secretly regretted it ever since, and miss each other like crazy sometimes. They have made a decent living as mildly-famous reality TV celebrities, after their surgery-chronicling show, "Parting Ways".

They don't mind making love in the same room as each other - hell, they went to college, can you imagine the crazy parties they had? - and they also don't mind that The Dough Boys are also mildly-famous, since it will probably increase sales of their upcoming book: Living With Yourself (And Your Two Conjoined Sisters).

Vampiiride eliitsöökla, teiste jaoks lihtsalt üks imelik vanadekodu "Mehubaar" sai kuulsusetult otsa. Ehkki mitte ilmselt lõplikult, kui maestro Baskin ja Karurammu Lemfs selle taas üles ehitavad, siis juba pärast "toidu" ehk patsientide mälupuhastust ja teatavat korrektiivi elanike hulgas.

Kiilakad Küülikud tänavad. Meilt ei ole enam mõtet mängude tegemises järjepidevust oodata, tõenäoliselt see jäigi viimaseks meie ürituseks. Aga never say never, võib-olla 30 aasta pärast teeme ühe päris vanadekodu. Ja siis saab selle nimeks, nagu juba räägitud "Loojangule vastu kappab".

Minu seebikarbipildid: http://kiilakadkyylikud.pri.ee/cpg/thumbnails.php?album=30

Igatahes, mind ähvardati relvadega, et me järje teeksime. See ütleb nii mõndagi. Siinkord veel suur-suur aitäh kõigile, kes tulid, eriti neile, kes terve öö olemas olid ja hommikul edasi mängida jaksasid. Ja üldse. Aitäh Aurumile ja Poognale ja üldse. See oli kõik hästi lahe.

Nii, kui sa nüüd seal polnud, siis ma ütlen et me tegime oma steampunk-settingus esimese larpi ja see pmst oli edukas, ning et veebruar 2009 tuleb eksklusiivne järg, ehk need kes esimesel olid pluss siis mõned lahedad inimesed kes meile meeldivad. Üle 15ne PCdel küll kasvada ei lase. Votnii.

Rohkem midagi väga öelda pole, olen õnnelik ja ninnu, ning seda tunnet ei murra isegi kool ja muud asjad.

Damdididam.

*tantsib oma roosas minimullis*

Noh. Muidu igatahes oli nii et klassijuhatajatund ja aktus oli nunnu. Natuke naljakas, eriti kui meie omadel laul natuke sassi läks, aga nohjah. Õpikuid pole überpalju, aga mul pole paberit. Peaks minema ja ostma homme/ülehomme/siis kui ema raha annab. Blah bla bla bla. Interesting, not.

Thanaria, codenamed väike väljasõit loodusesse, on valmimas.

Vot. Üleüldiselt, täitsa hästi läheb. Nvm, et kooli algus on.

As well as the shield I've made an axe and a dagger. The dagger was made from an off cut of foam left over from when I made my sword. Using a sharp blade I carved it to give a flint or stone dagger appearence. The axe came about as I had an old length of pipe from an axe that I'd made a long time ago. I wanted to play around with carving foam a little more and so come up with the dog head design. I'm quite please with the results although my partner says it looks like Snoopy and my son maintains that it looks like a fire-breathing duck.

Będzie spore wyzwanie i muszę przyznać, że nieco mnie przeraża. Trzeba pomyśleć o wsystkim - co-org, gracze, miejsce, fabuła, questy, stroje, rekwizyty, strona i forum. Normalnie wszystko i jeszcze troche. Stwierdzenie, że to będzie hell lot of work jest chyba nietrafne bo w piekle jest za mało roboty zwłaszcza, jeśli wziąć pod uwagę to, że trzeba wbić ludziom do głowy, że tutaj będzie DUŻY nacisk na kostiumy, zwłaszcza biorąc pod uwagę tępienie Lueblskich muchinów i pare innych tego typu rzeczy. Ałć. Ale dam radę! Więcej informacji już wkrótce :-)

So, it’s only 361 days until the next Gen Con UK.

The fact that I’m already counting down will tell you just how much I enjoyed this year’s Con at Reading University.

There was a big presence from Wizards to plug the new 4th edition and our little party of four managed to cram in as many D&D games as we could.

On the first day, we got in two fourth edition games, in-between spending copious amounts of money in the trade halls stocking up on yet more figures (myself and my friend M estimate our shared collection of figures alone now tops more than £1,000).

The first two fourth edition adventures we played were only first level and we all managed to survive and worked well as a team.

For our first evening we’d signed up for a Cthulhu game. However, when we arrived in the rather grand common room we discovered we’d actually signed up for a LARP Cthulhu, which basically means no tabletop and all roleplay.

It was, er, interesting and not necessarily an experience I’ll be in an hurry to repeat next year. But we all got into our characters and I have to admit to being a little freaked out when we were locked in a room, the lights flicked off and strobes came on, there were lots of screams and a ghost appeared on the balcony above me!

The second day we took part in a fourth edition fifth level game and despite the fact that we had wraiths, flaming skeletons, zombies, illusionists and a baby dragon thrown at our party we all somehow got through and survived.

On the shopping front, as well as stocking up on figures and floor plans, I also bought a Cthulhu boardgame that I’ve not come across before. It’s called Arkham Horror and we’re already planning to play it as a one off on Halloween.

It was a little disconcerting to see hardly any women at Gen Con and, in fact, I was the only woman in our party. But in all, Gen Con was a fantastic experience. I’m slowing growing to love 4th edition as I get my head around all the new powers and rule changes and I have some great ideas for my next epic campaign.

Roll on August 28, 2009.

Kosten: Spieler 100 Euro
NSCs bitte anfragen (wir brauchen nur wenige)
Anmeldeschluß 30.11.08 (!)

Kanzlei Hüsbeck
Hohler Petzelstieg 17
Goslar 

Werte Damen und Herren,

Im Auftrag meines Klienten Prof. Dr. Friedrich E. Fricke möchte ich Ihnen hiermit beigefügtes Schreiben zusenden. Es liegt im besonderen Augenmerk von Prof. Fricke, dass dieses Schreiben Sie mit Sicherheit erreicht. Dies erklärt die Zustellung durch meinen persönlichen Mitarbeiter.

Darüber hinaus möchte Sie Prof. Fricke hiermit herzlichst am Wochenende des 13.-15.März 1931 in seinem Anwesen zu einer ungezwungenen Zusammenkunft unter alten und neuen Freunden einladen.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Eduard Hüsbeck

 

 

 

Wer von Euch eine Einladung möchte (und noch keine hat...), wende sich bitte an mich.

Hier der Thread im GK-Forum.

I have been knitting, but I just haven't gotten around to blogging about it.  It seems like it's a motivation thing: I've had other things to focus on, things that stressed (read: depressed) me to the point where I could think of nothing else.  Now that I'm doing better, stress-wise, I can refocus myself on my knitting.  The upside of being bipolar is that depression is usually followed by mild mania, which I'm capitalizing on.  I'm churning through Christy at a fantastic rate.  I have the back and both sleeves done, and the left front 75% done.  I even blocked and seamed the pieces that I finished.  I'm really enjoying the Rowan 4-ply soft I'm using for this sweater, and it's led to a bit of a new-found obsession with Rowan yarn.  I scored some Rowan Wool Cotton from a destash, and have been hunting for a pattern to use with it (I only got ~500 yards worth).  I may try to find a few more skeins of it, so I have enough for a sweater.

I had a great time at GenCon, and have basically no pictures to prove it.  :)  Trust me when I say, it was awesome fun!  I also attended a new LARP last weekend, Threads, which was also fun.  One key benefit of joining a new LARP campaign is that I get to shop for more costuming.  I play a Japanese character, and have been stalking verious unfinished (cheaper) kimono for a formal costume for next game.  I figure that I still know how to sew well enough to finish a kimono, right?

King Sheanrad is the latest in a long line of kings that were super-bored. You see, many generations ago the then-king of Empol, Felagy, employed the services of a witch to remove some unsightly moles (347, to be exact) from his face and then stiffed her on the payment. She then cast a powerful spell of boredom upon him and his royal court, and since then everyone has been super-bored, all the time. I mean, just take a look at him and his sister, Onll. Suuuper-bored. Even their jester (pictured behind them) isn't having a good time.

By the way, if there was no curse, King Sheanrad was going to be subtitled "the Babyface" instead of "the Bored". Poor guy hasn't shaved a day of his life.

Name: Yinee
Occupation: Zombie, Brain-Eater
Realm: Empol

The moment King Sheanrad met Yinee, he knew he had to have her as his bride. While most people would find the idea of a zombie (and the potential threat of having your brain eaten) a bit dangerous, Shernrad actually saw it as something to break his boredom. And it's worked, for the most part - the majority of the royal court has been a bit on edge and afraid to sleep, and it's definitely added some excitement to the palace.

Plus, many people don't know this, but the last face you make right before you turn into a zombie becomes your permanent facial gesture as a zombie. For some reason, Yinee was smiling, and she's now permanently that way. King Sheanrad actually likes it - he finds that her smile seems to brighten every room. Sweet, huh?

Edit:

Lugupeetavad,

seoses staažika rollimänguri suundumisega kuumale maale vabanes tore meesroll 6. septembril toimuval Kiilakate Küülikute kutsetega larpil koondnimetusega "Mehubaar".

Mäng toimub Järvamaal, on ööbimisega, osavõtutasu jääb 200 ja 300 kr vahele (eelarve pole veel lõplikult paigas). Roll eeldab vabameelset suhtumist elusse, suhtlemissoovi, muusikaarmastust ja teadmist, kes on Bob Marley. vanust peab mängijal olema vähemalt 18 aastat.

Huvitatutel palun märku anda näiteks meilile (kiilakad punkt kyylikud ät neti punkt ee) või dragon.ee-s privaatsõnumiga. kes ees, eks see ole mees.

edit 2:
vabanes veel üks roll, mis on "sootu". Sobib nii mees- kui ka naismängijale. Eeldab loodusearmastust, head meikimisoskust ja empaatiavõimet!

Now I don’t want to sound like I am bashing their hobby, in essence it doesn’t sound so bad. You get to play dress up and hang out with friends all day. However, these guys take things to a whole new level of nerd. They’re building castles out in the woods, training for hours in their backyard and making deals with evil elf mercenaries in the middle of the night…and that’s where they lose me.

The film offers honest, almost too honest, confessional moments from the highlighted players and it left me feeling sad, confused and mesmerized all at once….it was like what I imagine watching Zelda Rubinstein shower would be like.

I’m really grateful for this genre of documentary though; the genre that includes King of Kong, Darkon and Confessions of a Superhero. They all share a special tragic genius that I love.

On that note, back to work. I am no better than Keldar or Bannor. At least they are free to roam the forests and talk among the elder beings of the netherworld. I sit here shackled to my modern day wheelie throne, forced to write like a whore-slave turned sour from too many nights spent with the tree people.

Ostan poest pudeli vett. Jõuan tööle, istun laua taha, keeran pudelil korgi pealt, tõstan pudeli suule ja... Fui! Veel või pudelil või korgil, millelgi on igatahes kassikuse hais juures! Ei julgenud kolleegile ka nuusutada anda, äkki olen lihtsalt ise lolliks läinud?

Kaks filmi olen vahepeal vaadanud. Batmaniga "Pimeduse rüütel" oli täpselt nii halb, kui arvasin, jube igav oli vahepeal. Viimane kolmandik oli juba vaadatav. Ja üldse ei lahkunud ma kinosaalist vaid Jokkeri pärast, ta oli nii lahedalt kuri!

Elioni Digi-TVs oli eelmisel nädalal tasuta Penelope Cruziga film "Jumalalt ei ole teateid". Vaatasin vaid seetõttu, et Cruz ja et tasuta, aga vabalt võib raha eest ka kaeda. Igati kobe film!

Rollide kirjutamine (või siis mängijate fantaasiate meie ideedega sobitamine või vastupidi) käib suure hooga. 6. september, ärge siis unustage, seltsimehed registreerunud! See on juba väga varsti!

Ja siis tuleb veel tõdeda, et imed on maailmas olemas. Päriselt ka!

Okay, I'll just be out with it: Dratin has a small penis. I know, I didn't want to go there, but it's important to my tale. You see, Dratin is a compensator. I mean, look at all those massive, phallic horns sticking out of his armor! And why do you think he has such long hair? It's to fool people into thinking he has a long...something else. And did you get a look at his sword? The poor idiot went into the armory and bought the biggest sword he could find - paying no attention to the fact that he accidentally bought the cardboard display model instead!!

Name: Chim
Occupation: Fighter
Realm: Sulkin

Chim has everything that Dratin wants - she has longer hair than him, and a REAL sword. But alas, this love wasn't meant to be.

I heard recently that the morning after their first night together (during which much begging, pleading and excuse-giving took place), Dratin stole Chim's (real) sword while she was still dozing, chopped off her hair, stole the gold she had hidden in her sock drawer, and disappeared.

It's a sad story, but someone had to tell it. All's fair in love and war, right?

I went to a LARP last night. To those of you not in the know, that is, a Live Action Role Play event. According to Wikipedia a live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing where the participants physically act out their characters' actions. It's like being in a play or tv production where there is no audience and no script.

I've known about the event for a couple of months. It was a one shot production based on a canceled space cowboy series. I knew and liked the TV show and was intrigued by the idea of LARPing. Even though, I am in no way an actress and prefer to day dream in private. Plus, very quiet. Still, no matter what I do, so very, very quiet.

Had a friend talking me up but she's not the reason I did this. I know that I need to be more social. I'm just not sure how to be more social and still feel like me.

I spent the last few days wondering and anticipating and trying not to be too nervous. And saving up money.

I spent Saturday afternoon imagining back story, based on the three sentence pre-summary I was given and buying props. I knew I was to be a Private Detective (would all those mysteries I read finally pay off in real life) and that there would be a mystery to solve.

I bought a magnifying glass and some colourful plastic fish - yellow, orange, green, blue, purple - they looked like this. They could be weapons or some other type of tool. They were initially, in my mind, Babelfish. This is a fictional species, created by Douglas Adams, and is a fish that translates speech from one language to another. But they could also be, I thought, genetically altered land Piranhas (Galps) that could strip a person of their flesh in thirty seconds. This, after all, was the future: anything was possible.

But that last thought came later after I was finished with shopping. The last item on my shopping list was some sort of weapon. Do you know how hard it is to find any sort of toy gun in this day and age. Ah, too have saved my toy guns from the Sixties. Life was less complicated then.

So, perusing the local toy store I happened upon these: . They made an interesting buzzing sound, look futuristic and I thought I could explain how this weapon might work. It has to do with force fields, and sound, and perhaps hypnotism. More information, on this product, can be found at http://www.zerotoys.com/newsite/products/MagnaBuzz.htm.

Next came a very simple costume: striped black pants, a blue silk shirt, an understated purse, and black chopsticks in my hair (which in a pinch could also double as weapons). Thus, I was ready.

Or so I Thought.

I knew the Universe. I was familiar with the venue. The LARP universe was well suited to the venue chosen. The LARP was scheduled to happen from 5:00 to 11:00 pm. I went. I walked down (it took me 45 minutes; I had planned for it to take over an hour). I was early but that was okay. I met a few of the other LARPers, paid my fee, got my character profile and waited for everything to start.

The LARP started downstairs on the street which gave me too much room to hide and after two hours, we moved upstairs into two rooms which made me feel crowded and out of place.

I tried. I interacted with one of the three  other characters I was too have had a previous relationship with. But mostly I just watched and felt like I knew nothing of what was going on. The first space was too large for me and the second too small. I felt like Alice down the Rabbit Hole except Alice had a guide to show her what to do. And she was brave and I am not.

At 7:30 I politely stepped out, that is, I made up a polite excuse and went home. Still confused and not really sure how the game is to be played. It would likely had killed me to stay all six hours. It's the not knowing what's going on, it's the feeling out of place, it's me.

So, after $40.00 spent.

$12.00 admission

$10.00 taxi home

$18.00 on toys, props, & water

A pittance, that's all it was, just a pittance.

After all that, what did I learn?

That I like to write plot. The time spent imagining and anticipating was something I enjoyed. Also, I learnt I do know myself. I'm not brave. I'm good at observing, not so much good at interacting. I can't comfortably stay locked in an unfamiliar situation for more than a few hours.

But, I might try this again. I enjoy the idea of LARPing. Everyone was open and nice and engaged in the story. I was not. Next time, a shorter LARP with less people. Maybe then, I'll have to play!