LMB 3rd Anniversary, March 26th!

[Andeon]

PARTAAAYYY!!!

Yes, as of sometime March 26th, 2011, the Lonely Mountain Band will be 3 years old! As this is a saturday, I *highly* recommend we find some weekend (and possibly week-long for those that work on weekends) festivities!

I'm not sure what exactly we would want to do, but I recommend something along the lines of drink, food, music (not necessarily in that order) - games, friendly competitions and/or group events, and I ABSOLUTELY recommend some adventuring

some potential things to keep in mind...

a general kin gathering, no meeting agenda, for fun, socializing, some casual RP, music, food, drink, etc...

freeze-tag and/or normal tag games

some friendly horse-racing (no stakes, as vagaries in server lag would cause any variety of innaccuracies)

perhaps some organized horse formation demonstrations...(still needs some work atm...)

friendly dueling (emphasis on FRIENDLY - no one wants to walk away with drama during this event!!)

possible gift giving (keep it simple - crafted items, pies, cosmetic items - maybe a gift exchange of sorts...)

and I'd highly recommend some adventure events - some 12 or more skirmish runs (can be crazy) - some dedicated low level instance runs (GB, GA anyone?) maybe even a kin-wide vengeance run ((pick a place everyone hates, like the old forest, or Fornost, and grab everyone that can carry a weapon, and CLEAN THE PLACE OUT!!!))

we could do some hide and seek games (rocknose??), maybe a tour...have our kin neighborhoods deck themselves out, and party through raglan road...who knows?

so, lets start gearing up for a week/weekend of festivities and fun! And remember, we've lasted 3 years precisely because of our standards of behavior, our commitment to our founding reasons, and the time and effort we spend seeking out, and attracting, men and women of the highest quality of character - namely, YOU!

[Rifflo]

This sounds like alot of fun! I can't wait!

[Locney Esgal]

This has my vote!

[Lennidhren]

Good timing - my spring break starts that weekend! :-)

I nominate Gaiagil to help plan the party games, because the ones we had with her Elendilmir kinship on Falathlorn Day were so much fun! Everything was based in the homesteads, including:

-Fishing contest
-Touring the neighbourhood and voting on the best yard decorations (This'd be fun in Raglan or the new Shire homestead if we are moved in there in time...Or, in Eryn Vrithon we could judge our random neighbours...)
-Music and dancing of course!

And then on Nimrodel with Tuiliel (who is LMBer Berriblossom and Morrdraug but not here too often), more fun games:

-A neighbourhood scavenger hunt - Tuiliel made up questions about the houses in her neighbourhood. This would also be fun in Raglan! Like, whose house has four yule trees (oh, that would be Horazia, but not in Raglan...), etc.
-Storytelling
-Synchronized fireworks (almost as much fun as the horse waltz...)

[Harperella]

I fully endorse this and think some organization is called for! One additional wrinkle--the Spring Festival should be in full swing! So we also have various festival games and even Inn-League pub crawling. I can commit to being there for 2-3 hours, but I'd like to schedule a larger scale event event with the help of willing Banders. The activities already listed here sound grand! So lets try and get a 5 hour schedule of events with people coming in and dropping off for various portions. Perhaps from 4-9pm EST.

--Harperella

[Andeon]

oof - spring festival does throw in a wrinkle, only because it offers up a host of new things to do, but in different locations...

well, saturday the 26th of march, 4-9 EST sounds fine by me...5 hours is a long time, cycled activities sound like the way to go...but not knowing precisely whats running during spring fest will make solid plans slightly difficult...

well, i suppose we better pick a venue, and some flexible *possibilities* to account for the variabilities...

Len (and possibly Giagil's) idea of partying at one of the homesteads (or the kinhouse included) sounds like a great place to start - and then have outwardly spiraling parties (off-shoot parties, perhaps) - and then start a new cycle 2, 3 hours later or some such...that'd be my first suggestion

fishing (not my cup of tea, but could be fun for a bit)
scavenger hunt or riddle quest...(needs to be planned out by someone beforehand)
syncronized fireworks! (I'm all for that - sadly, i've only got 1 portable and one house - i'll have to go looking for more fireworks this springfest)

and other ideas that I've already submitted...i'm great at ideas, less so at planning - anyone that wants to tackle this rather daunting task has my support, but I'd avoid giving me lead on this one unless absolutely necessary

[Aldekim]

Being on a Saturday I will not be able to participate, but I do have some stored up pipe-weed and a limited number of fireworks I can contribute once events are scheduled and people named to coordinate the events.

[gaiagil]

I planned the 3rd anniversary party for the Rangers of Ithilien last year, so I have a bunch of great activities I can suggest. Here we go.....

Hiders and Seekers. This can be done in housing or in middle earth at large. It's best to pick a confined area like the Shire or Bree. When the Rangers played we started in MD. The way we play is this: No fellowships or raids otherwise the hider can be found too easily. The hider picks the spot than gets in it. They give a clue. These are best if you put them in riddle form: Under foot, but not underwater. Still wet even so... After a bit, you can give another clue. The first to find the hider gets to be the next hider. If someone is especially good at Finding, he or she can give their hider turn to someone who hasn't had a chance. This one is great fun and can easily take an hour. This is like a verbal Where is Rocknose? game.

Fashion Show. Bring out your best armour or cosmetics and show them off. This makes for great screenshots as contestants /pose.... A good rule for this is that any armour or cosmetic be crafted by a kin member, not necessarily the model who should also be a kin member. It can also be a compilation of available pieces and crafted pieces. We could make a rule that everyone should wear at least one crafted piece in their ensemble.

Battle of the Bands.Small bands of 1-3 players could perform and the audience could vote on their favorites. I know this is a standard for Weatherstock, but we could do our own mini kin version.

Storytelling Contest. For this, the teller has to tell a story and use emotes as part of it. Audience votes for the winner. Of course, Lennidhren would probably win!

Eating Contest. The Rangers didn't have time for this one, but it could be fun. This eating contest is done in pairs. Each pair has to have a cook and an eater. The cook can only use raw ingredients, no premade pie crusts or fillings. No spiced potatoes sitting around.... The best place for this contest would be the Party Tree as there are three ovens there. The cook cooks and then passes food to the eater. The eater has to eat it. We can specify what kinds of foods or leave that up to the teams. The team who eats the most wins. A more advanced version for higher players could declare the team who raises the eaters stats best as winner. This would be for Supreme cooks and folks who can eat the highest level of foods. The first version is quantity and can be done by everyone. The second is quality and would be limited.

Parades. We could organize parades through different areas. The Rangers tend to do Thorin's Hall to Celondim or Duillond. Through Breetown--west gate to South gate. Or MD to the Brandywine Bridge or the Golden Perch.

Kin Lotteries. These can be done three ways. 1. Make a raid, highest roll wins the prize. 2. Sell Tickets. This pumps up the kin fund and gives folks a chance to win a part of the pot. The Rangers of Ithilien sell these for 100 silver each. Half the pot is given to the winner, the other half to the kin fund. Tickets are given a lucky number. The lottery marshal rolls the die for the available numbers and the person with the rolled number wins. 3. Some online contest gives members a chance at a ticket. The Rangers use this to draw kin members to the website. You can do screenshot postings, character tales, just plain posting to the forums.... Or something like Rocknose's contest only everyone who finds the spot wins a chance. Prizes can range from Gold to Custom Armour or Weapons.

Talent Contest. This can allow kin members to be creative. This would also have to include costumes and emotes. One of my characters did a traditional Rivendell smoke dance.... This could also have a winner with votes by the audience. Or three winners.... the top three.

Sinister Keg Races. For this, all contestants drink from the keg. The first one to return to a designated place... say the Kinhouse.... is the winner. Contestants cannot use maps for this, but they can use horses.

Middle Earth Waterslides. The Rangers, like this kin, is a family friendly kinship and includes children of members among their ranks. One of our younger members has an uncanny ability to find great waterslide rides. She led us to the Rivendell Waterslide and we all just flowed with it....

One other thing we might want to consider is making this a weekend long event. It would not be required for everyone to attend every day, but it would allow people who can't come on a Saturday to come on Friday night or Sunday.... You can also spread events out for each day, have a parade and a lottery for each day, maybe a theme.... Just a thought. It makes the party a much bigger deal to plan, but instead of five hours for one day, you could do 2-3 hours for 3 days.

We shouldn't try to do all of these things. Perhaps we need a committee to decide which to do and when.

Gaiagil

[Tamoro]

Some wonderful ideas, Gaiagil! I also like the idea of having it spread out over 2-3 (say Fri-Sat-Sun or Sat-Sun-Mon)days so folks who can't be there at certain times get an opportunity to participate.

[Harperella]

Those are great games, Gaiagil! I'd add the variant of "Sardines" to hiders and seekers, which is hide and seek in reverse where everyone tries to find 1 hider... then squeezes in with them in the hiding spot!

So let's put together a schedule:

1:00 - Festival Fun: Duillond, Hobbiton
2:00 - Festival fun: Breeland Fairgrounds, Thorin's Hall
3:00 - Gather at Raglan for games
4:00 - Shire Neighborhood? (or Aerlinnbar if it is not open yet) for more games
5:00 - Horse Formation practice
6:00 - Inn League pub crawl

Does that sound good to everyone? I'll ask an officer to lead each of our 1 hour time slots. I will take one of the neighborhood time slots. Can you make it at 5pm for Horse formation practice, Andeon? And perhaps Gaiagil to help with games at the neighborhoods.

--Harperella

[`Tinki`]

We must have a raid or two to just for fun and attack places like Dol Dinen or Fornost! Please?

[Galenhir]

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

To go along with our Anniversary Weekend: Middle-earth Network is set to launch on March 25, which is also Tolkien Reading Day! http://www.tolkiensociety.org/ed/tolkienreadingday.html

We plan on broadcasting live on Dunedain Radio Friday and hope to have a few special live guests - more news coming - stay tuned here: http://www.thedunedain.net/

In celebration, we are giving away a custom rendition of Thror's Map to anyone who donates to the Middle-earth Network:

http://tinyurl.com/throrsmap

[Isilwren]

Don't forget the fireworks! Sounds like fun! I plan on being there too!

[Aldekim]

Aldekim has composed a poetic toast in honor of the 3rd anniversary. It will most likely be offered up at the Ales & Tales following the anniversary weekend events unless a suitable event happens on that Sunday.

[Raydene]

I volunteer to do/lead something on the 24th or on some other weekday. I'm going to a wedding that Saturday! Yay! I actually wanted to lead some kind of kin event this month, so the anniversary fest seems like the best time.

Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament
This might involve some pre-planning, like a sign-up forum thread. Essentially, everyone is randomly bracketed into pairs. Winner of best-of-three is moved on to the next match. To prevent cheating, each player will /tell the judge what he or she picks, then the judge announces the results out loud. If the player base is rather large, we'd probably need more than one judge to keep things moving.

Musical Chairs Without Chairs
Someone starts playing music and everyone does some variant of /dance. When the music stops, all players /sit. Last one with his or her butt on the ground is out and play continues. Might need multiple pairs of eyes watching in case of lag hiccup. This might be a good way to introduce non-kin people to us by making an announcement on the regional channel.

I'm willing to lead one or both of these, but I'd need some help coming up the best time, best date, what the prize or prizes should be, etc.