To say that things are a little hectic at work is an understatement of the magnitude of saying that there's only a couple of frames in a minute of footage. They've kept pulling me off of 'priority' shots to put me onto other 'priority' shots for over a month now, leaving me in a situation where I've got but a single month to complete three ENTIRE episodes.

There's a small mouselike part of my brain that wants to panic, but it's currently being sat upon by a much larger brute called professional apathy: a grouchy, vaguely tyrannosaurian creature who knows that the current crunch isn't it's fault and glares steely-eyed at the inept managers who shove piles and piles of shot orders at it that it's already done. Those who say things like, "it'll just take a minute or two", or "can't you work faster?" get bitten.

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On the plus side, the move went as smoothly as could be expected given the short notice, and though Layne and I are now thoroughly sleep-deprived and exhausted, the old apartment is empty and clean, and the new tennants have already begun moving in. Our new apartment is partially unpacked, and I can't wait to see how much space we've got once everything's put away. It still feels a lot smaller than our old apartment, even though I know that it's only a few inches smaller either way, but I'm guessing a lot of that feeling comes from the mountains of boxes we currently have sitting in our living room.

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The KC game last weekend was heart-wrenchingly marvelous. It kicked off with Manahem 'stepping down' as White King, and Mahalia and Zachael having to berate a relunctant Manahem into upholding his end of the Codex by adhering to the protocol of Challenge. It was a rough situation to be in, since she hated forcing Manahem to fight one of 'his Divine', and she knew that Zachael was enjoying both her and Manahem's discomfort far too much. But, in the end, Tandal won the Challenge, Manahem finally got to step back from the lime-light and focus on his own spiritual path, and Mahalia hoped that this latest wedge in her and Manahem's relationship wasn't the feather that finally tipped the scales.

Luckily, it wasn't. The weepy portion of the evening came when Mahalia finally cleared her schedule of concerns and put aside time to talk to Manahem. They hadn't spoken much in the ten years since her return to the city, and even when they did, it was mostly about concerns of the Codex and Civitas. But, that night, they both spoke openly and candidly about all the things that lay between them. Twice, she had to wave off concerned Deistical who were worried about the tears streaming down her face, but they were healing tears, for once. In the end, he accepted her for who she was now, not for who she was. Ouch, that nearly broke my heart!

Add to that the scare of possibly having to 'heal' Sharru by ripping the trauma from his mind (and experiencing all the horrible, horrible things he'd done first-hand *shudder*), and the night was an emotional roller coaster. In short, it was everything I've come to expect from KC in general, and Inheritance in particular. Can't wait until next month!

Tonight is the first night of Folkfest, or as I like to call it, FolkFeast. Really, the cultural displays aren't all that interesting, and the entertainment varies between pavilion to pavilion, but the one thing that you can always count on is finding really tasty food. However, since it only runs in the evenings during the week, and from 3:00 onward on Saturday, it doesn't leave much time to sample all the fine cuisine. And so, to enrich your Folkfest dining, I offer you all a guide to my personal favorite pavilions. Ranked, of course, by how awesome the food is.

Philippine pavilion: My favorite pavilion for food, bar none. Ok, ok, I'll admit that I have a secret weakness for pansit (a noodle dish), which gives me a bit of a bias, but when backed up with the delicious bbq inihaw (meat on a stick) and lumpia (egg-roll type things), it is a winning combination. The tropical fruit ice-creams they serve for dessert are also quite nice. Plus, the dances are really, really cool, and the dancer's outfits make me want to sketch them for costume designs. So cool...

German pavilion: Bratwurst and sauerkraut? Nice, hot schnitzel washed down with a good German lager? Oh, please, stop. I'm drooling already. If that wasn't bad enough, they also roast an entire pig (or several!!), carve slices directly off it, and serve it on a bun with mustard. Your heart might not love you after this pavilion, but who cares? It's pig on a bun!!!!

Romanian pavilion: Though there are countless variations on the sausage/cabbage roll theme at Folkfest, the Romanian pavilion has my favorite version. The cabbage rolls have a very high meat-to-rice ratio in their filling, which means that you can peel the cabbage off, and it'll still hold together. A nice change from the usual, soupy cabbage rolls I'm used to. The sausage they serve will the rolls is coarse and has lots of garlic, which complements them nicely.

Scottish pavilion: Ach, I like me a little haggis and neeps. (Though, admittedly, not as much as Layne does.) Sadly, they don't seem to be serving Scotch eggs this year, so I have to rely on Layne's assertions that they made this pavilion one of the best places to eat. On the other hand, they do have tipsy laird, so they get bonus points from me.



Honorable Mentions:

Irish pavilion: Now, while the food here's good, hearty fare (Irish stew, potato soup), it's nothing that you can't make yourself. No, what really brings me out to the Irish pavilion is Guinness and singing. I'm not normally a big drinker, but I like me some dark ale, and there's just something wrong about singing Irish drinking songs without a good tall glass o' Guinness in hand. Since the singing only really starts late in the evening, it's the perfect pavilion to end your day at.

Afro-Carribean pavilion: I'm a big fan of jerk chicken and beef rotis, but it's rare that you find a year where the food really packs a punch. I guess that's what you get when you have to cater to the meat-and-potatoes crowd that is Saskatchewan. The rest of the food (rice and peas, coconut cake & snow-cones) is pretty generic. However, the reason this pavilion still makes my list is because of the entertainment. The Afro-Caribbean pavilion offers one of the most exciting, high-energy line-ups you can get. And, as an added bonus, it's in the same building as the Philippine, & Ukrainian pavilions, so even if the food's not top-notch, you can bring in snacks from the other two!

Norwegian pavilion: Pickled herring is not for everyone (though I love it!), but it's worth coming here just for the lefse. Yummy potato pancakes, sprinkled with sugar. Tasty! As an added bonus, a good friend of mine will be playing the Norwegian fiddle in the evenings, so I plan on stopping by to visit.

Question: What is better than the Algorithm March?

Obvious answer: The Algoritim March with The Ninjas!!