Dateline: The Orient.
What a great party we had for Spring Festival! We're still picking up the cups and marigolds, lanterns, ribbons, and beans that were strewn all over the Orient after 10 days of revelry. Our newest scribe was given a baptism in fire by being thrown to the revellers alone and unprotected at one point, and a certain Indian scribe is still wearing yellow from the Vasant Panchami celebrations! The results of all the competitions can be found in the
Orient Festival Guide.
Setsubun got off to a slow start when the Live Haiku Challenge was delayed slightly, but after a few last-minute, behind-the-scenes crises we were treated to an exciting competition in which no one ever held the lead for two consecutive rounds and the leader was never more than one vote out in front. The winner came down to who happened to be ahead when the last round arrived. Congratulations to all the participants for a breathtaking finish!
The wildly popular Great Bean Hunt brought in unexpected multitudes that scoured the Orient for days looking for these little red wonders. It was the non-red bean, though, that attracted the most attention and caused the most frustration. Camoflauged to blend in with its surroundings this "Elusive Color Changed Bean" became a quest all its own for some of the contestants. You can find it in
Ghengis Khan's avatar if you look VERY carefully. The actual URLs of all 30 beans can be found in the
Great Bean Hunt thread and most of the beans are still up...but you should hurry. They're already starting to come down in preparation for Springfest.
The fun continued for Lunar New Year when our visitors agreed to help prevent the Jade Emperor from burning down AW and Lantern Decorating came into fashion. On Tuesday, while many people chose to continue decorating lanterns, others headed over to
Sank's Sakariba Gameroom, where they stood by the dozens awaiting their chance to Bop Nian. That poor monster was successfully bopped so many times he's going to think twice before bothering us THIS year! By Wednesday evening, exhausted from hefting that mallet over and over again, the crowds lined up to wander the art galleries that were being offered for display by the members of the
Art of AncientWorlds.
Still unsated after a full day of Lantern Puzzles, the revellers donned yellow and descended upon India for a three day celebration of Vasant Panchimi, where they learned to speak Sanskrit, toured India, and puzzled over quiz questions. But it was the Take the Taj! writing competition that seemed to make the biggest splash. Story tellers from all over AW joined in to relate the story of the creation of the Taj Mahal.
Topping off the activities, our neighborhood block parties were a great success. None of them were so crowded that people couldn't get in...well, we MAY have contributed to the demise of the server on Friday night...and all the visitors seemed to enjoy themselves. Ten foreign AW members were ushered into the Orient Allstar Hall of Fame, including Senex Caecilius, Marduk Hammurabi, Lotus Horemheb, Leah Enkidu, Diantha Livius, Maria Marius, Caileadair Etana, Asenath Amenhotep, Cyhiraeth Volcae, and Desdemona Eurimedon. Many thanks to all of them for their assistance to the Orient over the past year!
All in all, the festival was a great success, but it wasn't so much the events being offered as the reception of our visitors that made it so. The scribes, patrons, citizens, and group members of the Orient would like to thank everyone for their support. You guys can visit the Orient anytime!
Quote of the month
"I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book" —Groucho Marx.
