Also, I know it's been a while, and I'm kind of sorry about that... College is very busy and I left you all at some very bizarre posts, so... woops;; ^_6
Friday, September 18th Two-thousand and Nine
I woke up at ten something, and went to class only to find that "Eco is canceled." So, I practically teleported back to my dorm room and found that Liz (who is my room mate this year, also) had to take a shower - she had every intention of being finished packing and such by the time my class was finished. However, since the class was canceled, well, her plans were foiled! So, I waited around, humming so many random Enter the Haggis songs, all excited to just leave the room. I picked up my bags, put them down again, paced the room, did stuff on my computer (mainly Facebook nonsense) until she was finished, and by then, I was singing the song at the end of How The Grinch Stole Christmas, when all of the Who's down in Whoville welcome Christmas... So, I was all hopped up on excitement and maybe sugar - I maybe had some PEZ and Pixie Stix while she was gone, maybe... After getting the neighbors to watch my betta fish, Keiran, we set off on a whirlwind adventure to find my car in the parking lot!
And then we drove from the far, lower east side of Pennsylvan
ia all the way up to Saratoga! And we only stopped once for gas, which is awesome, because I didn't really want to stop... Oh! Sad news, the thing that I plug into the cigarette lighter thing in the car to put my iPod in to play music... my iTrip, or what you call it - didn't work! It died! In my hands! It died! It wasn't even all that old, I just got it for Christmas about three years ago. I mean, I use it all the time, so I guess it finally threw in the towel. So, it was sad. Liz and I wound up getting our Haggis fix in the car, though - we had iPods, and headphones. Don't be alarmed, fellow drivers of the road! I had the right earbud and Liz had the left, and she held and played with the songs on the iPod, I just drove and sang along like a good driver - paying attention to the road and the GPS, I have a side story about her name later, it's mildly entertaining, but not pertinent to my amazing weekend! I think I'm going to dub it my unbirthday, because it was just that amazing...Anywhoozle, we got to Saratoga in a little under 4 and a half / five hours and walked into the fairegrounds of Saratoga and got our map, and our hands stamped with little 'I2K's, because that's what it was: Irish 2000. Awesome, right? I know!(Look, my hand! Yeah, that's a ring on my left ring finger.... No, I'm not married... what of it?) So, Liz and I walked in and it wasn't long before I saw purple hair, and a pirate hat, and a shirt with Trevor Lewington's face on it that said 'More Vibraslap' and I pointed, because that's what I do, and I went "Fia!" Granted, she was on her phone, so Liz and I just walked up to her and waited until she was off to speak with her - which didn't take long, because we're awesome, and she wanted to speak with us.
Now, I know what you're thinking. 'Jereality, how do you know this Fia person? I have never heard you mention her before ever.... Also... isn't Haggis sheep stomach? Why would I want to go into that? That doesn't sound like a good time at all... I think you're opinions are skewed!' That's where I have to stop you, because you're asking too many questions. Okay, I know Fia and a whole bunch of other Haggis Heads - that's what we call ourselves.... - from the Enter the Haggis (ETH) ChatRoll that is online while they stream their concerts. Oh, by the way, ETH streams their gigs live, so those of us who are far away and can't go see them in person can still see their show. How amazing is that?! I'll tell you, really amazing. Really super amazing! I have lots of friends there, and I think I met, well, I met a bunch of them. I really can't remember all of them.
Back to the story --
So, I pointed, Fia, phone call, waited... and then we introduced ourselves - and it wasn't difficult to figure out who were were. I mean, I use this name on the ETH chatroll, and I have them call me by my real name and it's got my picture on it (yes, I know, of my face... Paranoia, I know... weird, right?) and Liz uses her name and also has a picture, so we were pretty noticeable... Also we were excited 'and were all "Heeyyyyy!!" ' So, I'm pretty sure they figured us out very easily. Then if they didn't we introduced ourselves, I think handshakes were involved, I'm not quite sure... So, after Fia introduced me to her sister and a fellow who goes by Whip, and Jenthetrainer (all friends on the chat) I grew even more excited. Not only were the guys from Enter the Haggis in the same vicinity as we were, but we were meeting our online friends too... I was ecstatic.
So, we got the names of everyone around us and then we decided to go toward the main tent, passing other little kiosk-y tents with food, and awesome knick-knacks and other brick-a-brack that is totally awesome. So, for some reason, we stopped about forty feet from the main tent where the music was coming from, and I had a cookie from an ETH chatroll friend who goes by IrishSmurf, which was delicious... and then all of a sudden, walking like a normal person is Trevor Lewington (guitar and vocals)... just walking along from the music tent. And I swear to you that my heart stopped, and my breath was gone, and I put my hand on Liz's shoulder, and I caught Trevor's eye for maybe four seconds and I think I'm lucky to be alive because I don't know if you can survive without a heartbeat or breath for that long. So, Trevor walked away, and I think he may have laughed at us... which is a huge possibility, because lets face it, he's probably used to it. Fia just stared at us, and smiled... Fia is friends with the band... Which means I'm jealous. However, that does not mean she and I cannot be friends - by the end of the post, we are friends... I just gave away some of the story, I'm sorry.
So, we stood there for a while longer, and Trevor walked back to the tent, and Liz and I almost died again. Here, you should already be aware that as far as we are concerned, these guys are 'famous' people, and they were just walking around, all willy-nilly... It was so amazing. After our hearts continued to beat, Fia needed more refreshments, so we went to the Beer Tent, losing some people in the process. While Fia and her sister went into the tent, Whip, Liz and I were forced to wait outside because, unfortunately, we're underage. We spoke instead, about how Whip did not look like he was 17, but that he look 20, and then we moved to how we liked the bags that were being sold in the booth shop across from the Beer tent. Though, when Fia and her sister came out, we were all bitter looking 'cause they came out with delicious looking drinks. I did, though, double-dog dare Liz to go in... she did take a couple steps in, and then came right out.... She had to, I double-dog dared her. That's how we roll.
Then we moved back to the white tent with the music and saw Mark Abraham (bass player) talking to some Haggis Heads, and I was like 'Oh my gosh.... this is going to be the best day ever!' Little did I know, it would wind up being the whole weekend; :) ... Anyway... The group moved into the tent a ways, and Liz and I met up with her Aunt where we spoke for a little bit about my driving the next day up to Saranac Lake for the next Enter the Haggis show. I assured her that I was totally capable, and then all of a sudden, I remembered that I had to call my dad - so, I did. After I hung up with him, I rejoined with Liz and then we lost Fia. So... we sort of wandered for a little bit. [All of this reading, and the band didn't even start yet! Phew! You're awesome!]
I saw Craig Downie (bagpipes and founder for/of Enter the Haggis) talking with a couple Haggis Heads, and told Liz... we freaked out for a few moments. Then we meandered through the fairegrounds and looked at the people - well, I did... because people watching is one of my most favorite hobbies. We passed the Beer Tent, honestly, I had hoped to find Fia there.... because I felt really lost... I liked having sort of my own tour guide, like my own leader of the festival, is was 'totes awesome'. However, I did not find Fia at the Beer Tent, so Liz and I hung left and then found Jenthetrainer, and stayed with her for a little bit. She was speaking with a guy about the Great American Irish Festival's Golf Tournament ( I know, I didn't post about GAIF, I really do apologize... I did get busy... but just pretend I did, and said 'awesome' a whole bunch... Because I would have... I would have been introducing the same people, I promise.) So, she was speaking with that guy, and Liz and I were sort of standing around, looking for Fia... and then we found out she went with her sister and Whip to go and buy a Bodhrán.... We nodded, and were like 'oh, that's cool', because it was - I kind of want one... Anyway, we walked with Jen for a while, in fact, we walked all the way up to the Beer Tent with her, got a little bit bitter because we couldn't go in, and then decided to leave her and find Fia.
So, we turned around, and walked back in the direction we came, passed some neat little shops, passed two alpacas - it reminded me of my vacation to Vermont (Marlee Farm Alpacas), were I went to an alpaca farm and got a blanket and some fingerless mittens - and then we made a left and I pointed to Fia again, because lo and behold, there she was! I had found her again! I have some sort of Fia Tracker... or something, it's scary. Anyway, we reunited and Liz and I were shown the nifty drum Fia bought. She said she bought the drum from an attractive ginger man in a kilt. Oh, the things I retain... Later, I saw said ginger-man.... I had to agree, Fia has good taste so far.
So, instruments(Fia's sister bought a penny whistle) in hand, Liz and I followed Fia, her sister and Whip to Whip's car which they call the Box and placed the newly purchased noise makers in the vehicle. Then, talk of Moxie was brought up. I had no idea what Moxie was, so I wanted one. I popped one open, and shared a sip or two with Liz. Turns out I like Moxie... it tastes like ginger snaps... and those are delicious...
Once that was done, we turned around, and began to walk the festival, Whip and I drinking our respective moxie's while random conversations flowed. I vaguely remember saying something to Liz... It was so funny, that's too bad - I'm sure you all would have enjoyed it, I'm sorry. Once the moxie's were gone, and properly thrown away, we reentered the grounds and (after brief confusion by the main gate, deciding which side - left or right - was best to go through, we made it all the way in) saw a huge sand castle! Fia said she wanted to stomp it... I said she was the destroyer of hopes... OH! And by this time, we were with another Haggis Head named Kelly! I don't have any links for you... so, just imagine something lovely. As we continued, we spoke of our childhood sand castles... and how either they were bucket shaped castles, or the buckets that were shaped like castles.... And how it wasn't very imaginative... Then I said how I made my bucket castle, and I made my moat around my bucket castle, and all my imaginary bucket people were very happy in their bucket castle... with the stick in the top for a flag. Good times, child hood. Good times.
Then we meandered a bit and wound up at the Beer Tent, but this time, oh, this time I would not be thwarted and pushed aside like some underage pre-teen! Oh no. I just walked right in, just like I owned the place. Was I asked to leave? No. Why? Because I have confidence in sunshine, I have confidence in rain... I have confidence that spring will come again - Besides which you see I have confidence in me So, Liz and I stood in line with our little group sans Whip 'cause he had a call to make, and then got out of the way a bit until we saw DAG.... Did I mention DAG yet? No? I guess not... I think this was probably the second time I met him at the fest, the first time was all mushed in with a whole bunch of people from the ETH Chatroll. He calls himself Dag for short, but his full online name is Dagnabit - which is totally awesome. And also, also! I speak to his wife online at the ETH Chatroll thing, too! Her name is Brenny, she's so nice! Anyway, when the beers were received our group sort of moved to the center of the Beer Tent and conversed.
Eventually, Fia and Dag got to talking about exchanging phone numbers - apparently, Dag isn't the best texter, either - he said he starts a text in the beginning of the day and finishes it by the end of the day, so silly. So, mildly drunk, I'm assuming, Dag is trying to remember his cell phone number and as soon as he has what could possibly be it, he says "Oh wait, that's my wife's... mine's....oh wait... um..." It was hysterical! It went on like that for like, ten minutes! It was so funny! Then we decided something, I don't know, I was just suddenly worried about crowds and the stage so I missed a few things, but it was okay, because that's where we decided to go next!
Oh. My Gosh! When we got to the stage the crowds had already started, the guys were on stage and I swore I was going to wee. I told Liz, I said "Liz, I'm going to wee". S'what I said, I did. So, Liz, Fia and I pushed our way into the crowd, Liz saw her aunt, and we pushed ourselves in furthers and we wound up almost in front of Craig Downie (the bagpiper... from before... founded the band, remember?) Anyway, I was in front of Craig, about ten feet from stage, loving life. In fact, Craig has the first two pictures on my camera. (I'd put some up, however, my camera doesn't have a 'view pictures' button, so I can't upload anything... ]: )
So, I don't remember the set list for the first night, because I don't have a picture of it that I can see, but I do know that they started with Litter and the Leaves and then the rest of the songs are a blur of amazing... I jumped and I shouted, and I punched my fist in the air, and I counted the four a whole bunch of times, and bounced my foot in time with the music... And somewhere during the middle of the set, a guy in a red north-face fleecy looking jacket weaved his way in front of Fia and I and these two other girls who were in front of us, and we all sort of looked at each other and were like 'really?' And wouldn't you know it, this D-Bag eeked out some of the foulest smelling gases.... Oh! It was during Fiddle Set! and Brian Buchanan (he plays the fiddle and the piano... you may notice him as the one with the red/orange hair) looked over in my direction because Fia was standing next to me laughing hysterically - because let's face it... the guy in front of us, it was funny... And Brian does this thing with his eye brows that is totally awesome - Anyway, he looked over in our direction, and flicked his eyebrow up. So, we sober up pretty quick because you know what that means, don't you? That means Brian heard Fia laughing... Woopsies.....
So, then, the rest of the concert commenced and was absolutely amazing. At the one part of The Ghosts of Calico (which was my first favorite song on the CD), there's a lyric that goes ; "So take my last breath quickly/take it in my sleep/take it while I'm dreaming of a life in San Martin/'Cause everyone I know now is a dusty memory/I can hear the wolves delivering my eulogy." And at the point, a whole bunch of the ETH ChatRoll people, we all howled... It was awesome.
But for some odd reason, the venue was rushing through the acts, so the guys didn't get to do an encore or anything. In fact, I learned later that the stage crew was breaking down while they were singing Gasoline.... Insane, right?
After that, the guys left the stage, Brian spoke about his birthday trip to Ireland that I'm going to try to persuade my parental units to let me attend. However, my side of the battle is looking a little bit shaky... Regardless, you're here to read about the festival... So, let's continue.
Then our little ChatRoll group conversed some before Fia was like "there's Brian." And I almost died. That's right, almost died! She then led the way right to him, pirate hat bouncing away (because she's that awesome, she can wear a pirate hat...also, Saturday was Talk Like A Pirate Day)... And she walked right up to him and said 'I'm sorry for laughing so loud in the middle of Fiddle Set' and Brian just stared at her and was like 'What?' .... So, it turned out, he was just making a face earlier... he hadn't heard... Now we had to explain.. So.... we did;; ^_6.... and there was much laughter. And then Fia introduced us, and I said "Hello, I'm Jereality," and he smiled real big and held out his hand and my heart stopped and I fell to the ground!
I'm kidding.
Fia introduced us, and I said "Hello, I'm Jereality," and he smiled real big and held out his hand and my heart stopped, and I smiled real big and he said "hey Jereality," and then he moved on to meet Liz, and whoever else we were near I wasn't too sure because I just shook Brian Buchanan's hand and nothing else really matters...
-insert big fangirl sigh here;; however, after some events, I have calmed down... such events will be explained in the next post-
And then Brian said, "let's move to the light," so, we did! And we followed him toward the Merchandise Tent! Which it really just the side of the performance tent... so.... Yeah. And then in the clamor and clutter of people and bodies, all of a sudden, Liz stopped in front of me, and a guy to my left directly next to me turned around and my heart stopped again, and my breath was gone as Trevor Lewington (guitar and vocals) both exchanged brief stunned glances. Obviously neither of us had expected a person in our paths... And I had not expected Trevor.... In my stunned silence I could barely hear Liz introduce herself quickly to Trevor all by herself (I'm so proud!), and then we were all shooed from the Merch' Tent, because none of us worked there... That wasn't cool though, 'cause Brian told us to go there, and then Trevor told us all we had to leave (very politely, mind you...)
Not a problem, because as we were moving from the tables where all the Enter The Haggis stuff on it, we saw Mark Abraham (bass and vocals). Fia introduced us to him, and oh my gosh, I thought he was going to squeeze my hand off. Mark has a death grip hand shake. I'm sure it's because of the bass player-ness, but still, pulsing hand afterward... No matter... He was so nice! And then, after Mark left to go and greet more fans, our group meandered into the field a little bit, looked at the stars, recounted the story of the guy who eeked foul gases... However, it just so happened that guy was standing behind Fia as she told the story... I tried to get her attention before she told it, but she has the punch line came and the laughter, well... Then the guy left... After that, Dag wore Fia's pirate hat, pictures were taken, some stories were passed.... and then we got to meet James Campbell (drums). Shook his hand, I don't remember what we spoke about, I just remember that he laughed - he has the most awesome laugh! And he's always laughing! He must be the happiest person alive, I think... OH! It was so cold, and he was in shorts... I mean, I know he just rocked out and he was crazy awesome, but it was like... cold. Then he left to go do things.. He said he'd be right back... but Liz and I had plans...
So, Liz and I went to the Merch table and I bought a shirt with the band's Stick People on it... and then I put it on right over my clothes... and then I met Craig Downie! And when I shook his hand, he looked at me all concerned, and said 'you've got such cold hands, wee lass!' and then he took his other hand and warmed 'Righty' (my shaking hand), while I just said 'yeah, I get cold easy'. Stupid... And then I got pictures!
And life was good! My very last picture of Friday evening was with Brian Buchanan. First, we got into the normal 'this is the fan picture pose' and then I held up my 'Rock-and-Roll' fingers, you know... Like I always do for my pictures.... And out of the corner of my eyes, I see bright red hair turn and look down, I hear the softest chuckle.... and I'm almost positive my 'I-don't-want-to-take-pictures-with-fans-anymore-I'm-tired' smile turned into a 'this-girl-is-silly' laugh at me, smile....
So.... It was sort of totally amazing... Of course, my smile in that picture is gigantic.... after that, Brian left, and we stayed and listened to a few more bands....
Somewhere between James and pictures with Brian, Fia disappeared.... After a very long time, speaking with totally amazing people and listening to the rest of the other bands, Liz and I decided it was our time to go. So, saying good bye to those that were around and trying to get a picture that took about eight tries to get before we moved to the area where only the shots of the grass were being taken.... What? We tried to take a picture. It didn't work. Whenever the camera was moved, it took a picture of grass to our left. Liz suggested we go toward that left direction, where the grass was... the place where the camera was taking pictures, and try to take the picture there.... Sure enough, it worked - weird, right?
After all of that fun, we walked out of the tent and ran into Fia, where I tried a Hot Beef Sundae (It's roast beef, mashed potatoes, and gravy in a cup - don't worry).. It was delicious... that's when I remembered that was the only thing I had eaten all day. Woops. We got to talking for a while, the evening wound down with Liz and I having a place to crash for the night on Saturday, rather than driving all the way back home (NY to PA)... which she didn't like either... Everyone we told always made the same face.
And then we left, ad drove back to Liz's 'Camp' where we stayed up until two-ish, squealing over pictures... Turns out her Aunt's camera has the same memory card as mine, so I got to see my pictures... They turned out well, not a one is blurred - I'm pleased. Then I took a picture of the one with Brian and I with my phone, sent it to facebook and now it's my facebook profile picture... Funny world, isn't it?
Oh, anyway - that about sums it up for Friday.... Tune in readers, for Saturday, September 19th 2009, when Enter the Haggis plays in an Old Folks Home... True story... totally awesome!
ROCK ON!
^_6;; Jereality
