Shadow Art Fair live blog

11:00 Super busy. No time to write…. Someone must have smuggled in a cello or something. I can hear it coming from across the room, and it sounds great.

8:44 I’ve got great videos that I want to post, but it looks like my camera battery has died… I’m pissed off.

6:20 The special Shadow Brew just went on sale and it’s some of the most complex shit I’ve ever tasted. I have no idea what he meant, but, Ryan, one of the guys who made it, told me they outdid themselves this time, by “making it weird… TWICE.” Apparently there are two steps in the process where someone can make beer weird, and they took advantage of both. And it’s sour as hell. Here’s a quick video interview I shot with Ryan in the restroom about 45 minutes ago.

5:16 Someone else came along to match the Mayor’s $2, so I guess some of you are reading this, even though there aren’t any comments…. As of right now, about $25 bucks have been pushed into the Money Hole by the dollar dozer.

3:46 It’s getting crowded now, and kind of hot. And it looks like rain outside. The music is still going on outside, though. A girl is handing out crazy pizza stickers in front of my table. Someone else is shining a light in my eyes from across the room. I’m stuffed on Zingerman’s. I’m happy, but I miss selling stuff. I miss taking people’s money – the feeling of my pocket swelling with cash. So far, I probably have about $10 in donations. I’m going to have to start twisting arms… Oh, there’s also a clown here, walking through the crowd, making balloon animals for people. And there were trumpeters earlier. Five of them made their way through, winding through the crowd like a snake. Lots of good stuff.

2:48 So far, the Twits seem to be on board. Here’s a screen grab from Twitter.

2:30 The Mayor just stopped by the table. He said that he wanted to match the $2 that I already got. I guess he was reading the site… And he did match the $2, by the way.

1:50 It’s almost time for the music to begin. You’d better hurry.

[The folks from Dreamland have a great Michael Jackson puppet… which, apparently, was made prior to his passing.]

12:15 Doors are open. So far, I’ve got $2 in donations toward the Cycle Powered Cinema project. Not bad for the first five minutes. At this rate, I should be able to buy our first generator by the end of the night.

11:30 People are almost setup. Only half an hour until doors open to the public.

11:20 I’m wearing a “volunteer” tag around my neck, on a string. I was just outside, putting up cones so that cars don’t park in the space where bands will be loading and unloading, and a violent gust of wind came along, spinning the tag around like it was the propeller on a rubber band-powered airplane. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the string twisted to the point where it nearly closed off my windpipe. It would have been a stupid way to die, but maybe appropriate.

11:00 People are starting to show up with their stuff. Lots of activity. Lots of good new stuff this time around. I think something like 40% of folks are new vendors.

10:00 This year at the Shadow Art Fair, since I won’t be selling all the regular merchandise (no issues of Crimewave, no My Life In Ypsi Comics, no paintings of unicorn heads, no Ypsipanties, no Iggy shirts, no Monkey Power Trio records), I plan to just hang out and talk with people about the Cycle Powered Cinema project and other stuff. So, I’m hoping that I’ll have time occasionally to update the blog. At least that’s the plan. Right now, the Brewery’s pretty dead… OK, I’ve got to go now and put up a banner for the folks at Zingerman’s, who were nice enough to donate bag lunches for all the Shadow vendors this time around.

If you drop by the Brewery today for the Shadow, drop by my table and say hello. I’ve got the second table on the right, up against the wall, as you walk in. Or, feel free to leave a comment here, and I’ll try to respond.

[The guy who did this won’t be here this year, but I love his stuff.]