Beware of the Train

[Again, kinda crossposted from Hype, but expanded somewhat]
I just had a bonkers and ridiculously expensive weekend, what with the Scottish Juggling Convention (£26 entry fee plus over a hundred quid on new props) and Kathleen's wedding (flights, food, £30 on taxis to and from airports).

The convention (the bits of it I was there for, anyway) was great. I have now seen a four club Mills' Mess. I have seen a five ball flash pirouette. I have learned how to make a spare ninja mask using only a T-shirt. I have, in general, seen some amazing stuff, learned a few new tricks, and I've got a lot of new stuff to work on and the renewed enthusiasm to practice it. Oh, and I've seen Tempei Arakawa perform, who's just incredible. And my stage combat workshop went down pretty well, which was nice. As previously mentioned, I spent far too much on new props, but I now have lots of things I wanted - two more bouncing balls, so I can bounce juggle, a set of knives (for those "Now do it with fire!" "I can't, I'm in a building" "Do it with knives, then!" moments...), some non-knackered beanbags, and, joy of joys, a set of Radical Fish clubs. Mmmmm, fish.

I think I can stop buying props for a while now...



[Admittedly, six of those are wormwood_pearl's.]

So, up at 6am on Saturday morning to go to Kathleen and Paul's wedding. I was attempting to sleep on top of a pool table in a roomful of snoring jugglers, so this was less of a hardship than it sounds. Taxi to the airport, checked in shortly after seven, slurped coffee until it was time to get on the plane. As I'd checked in so early, I was one of the first on, and bagged the emergency exit seat. Bonus! Met by elvum at the airport, driven back to his parents' house for tea and toast, then off into Bristol for a pub lunch with him, terpsichore1980, and dynix. Gareth, Jo and susannahf joined us as the meal went on.

The wedding itself was good, and in retrospect going was absolutely the right choice. Anglican service, but a slightly strange one as the vicar (or "minister", as he described himself) kept stopping to explain the symbolism of everything he was doing - as I said to dynix, we got the DVD extended edition wedding with director's commentary. Nice-sounding choir. Moderate-sized band - very enthusiastic organ/piano/synth, couple of strings, a drummer or two, the suspicion of a clarinettist: I wasn't paying too much attention to them. Sermon given by the groom's father, who it seems is a nuclear physicist turned priest. Readings by Paul's mother ("The lesson is taken from the book of the prophet Zechariah. In this passage, written six hundred years before Christ, God looks forward to a deeper relationship with his people") and by Kathleen's sister (who was more traditional). The dress was pretty slimline, with a train of a couple of metres, and a sort of furry waistcoat thing over the top. Needless to say, Kathleen looked beautiful - I'll post some photos at some point. Kathleen's sisters were the bridesmaids, in matching furry waistcoats and red dresses. And when it had already gone on for an hour, they had Holy Communion :-). Reception in the dining hall at Bristol Grammar School, which was a proper mediaeval or Early Modern job with huge high ceiling and bigass wooden rafters and all - it would have been perfect for juggling in :-(. I stayed for a few breadsticks and a couple of glasses of champagne, but had to leave for the airport before the official photo. And on the way back, they didn't make me check my convention pass into the hold as a deadly weapon, which was an improvement on the trip out :-)