 |
L.O.O.P.E.D. At Faire F.A.Q. - Frequently Asked Questions |
|
 |
||
Table of Contents |
|
|
|
||
| What is L.O.O.P.E.D.? | ||
L.O.O.P.E.D. is an informal Renaissance Faire social group. We're people who love meeting other people, and building on those relationships. The pretzel shape is our symbol, the loops of the pretzel symbolizing a circle of faire friends. Pretzels are perfect for Renaissance Faires due to their historical presence in Europe, and they have religious and charity connotations. |
||
| What do the letters stand for? | ||
Loyal Order Of Pretzels, Eating and Drinking. |
||
| Who runs the web site? | ||
The site started as a personal site set up by Jerry on his own web space. Then it moved to a free domain. Later, our good friend Craig McLaughlin at Bit Bucket donated space on the server in his bathroom. In the beginning of 2003 when we clearly had outgrown Craigs bandwidth, Jerry retired as webmaster. Now we're hosted at WorldWebHosters.com thanks to Tony and Tom. Maintaing the site is a joint effort. We have several talented friends who help, including Booda and Monika. |
||
| When are you going to post more pictures? | ||
Soon.
As soon as we can. Please be patient. We post them as soon as we
get them, and find time to post them. |
||
| Are you a guild? | ||
L.O.O.P.E.D. is not a guild. L.O.O.P.E.D. is all about meeting new people and spreading the faire bug to those not yet infected by it. It has been our hope that the thousands of photos we have online will keep people entertained, bring back fond memories, and in some way share our excitement for the renaissance faires. By showing the West Coast renaissance faire scene in pictures and video we hope to create interest in for people who may otherwise had little to no interest. We also want people to have a place where they can reflect on faires past, or those that they have missed. It is our sincere hope that when people look at the pictures and events that they understand the love we have for the renaissance faires, and all the people we have met. The people are like an adopted family. |
||
| Who are the founders? | ||
Originally L.O.O.P.E.D. consisted of four friends from the San Francisco Bay Area who have known each other since 1985: Tom, Brad, Tony, and Jerry. |
||
| What's with the pretzels? | ||
Over many years of doing faire we wanted to come up with some sort of favor that we could give away freely to anyone we met. Tom is a pretzel freak. So it became a ritual to feed a pretzel to friends at faire and the tradition began. |
||
| Where do you get the pretzels? | ||
Generally it is Tom passing out the pretzels. He swears by store-brand pretzels from Albertsons and Safeway. At a typical faire day, Tom will go through half a bag of pretzels. He starts off the morning with a fresh supply. They go stale overnight in a leather bag. At home, when bite-sized pretzels won't do the job, Tom likes Snyders of Hannover brand large pretzels and flavored bits. Brad prefers whatever is on sale at Safeway. Nothing is too good for his friends. |
||
| What are the favors? | ||
Favors are a way of recognizing the bonds of friendship that develop at faire. As such, they have come to be a symbol of our social connections. The original pretzel pins were coated in epoxy and glued to a leather backing with white ribbon. Later pretzel pins created by Jerry were epoxied and glued onto a wooden back. Time had a way of destroying these favors, so at the suggestion of Perry Louie we had master craftsman Kevin O'Hare create the pewter L.O.O.P.E.D. pretzel pins that many of our friends wear now. |
||
| How do I join? | ||
As earlier stated, L.O.O.P.E.D. is not a guild. To join all you have to do is become a friend. There?s nothing more to it then that. If you look at the bio section, everyone listed is a friend of one of the founding members. The best way to get involved with L.O.O.P.E.D. it to simply come up and say hi. We don?t bite (Blatant lie!) We?ll probably feed you a pretzel and say hi back. That's how many of our faire friendships have begun. Over time, we will recognize you as a close friend by pinning you with a favor, something we always do at a faire site. |
||
| What if I know you already, but still haven't been pinned? | ||
Sometimes
we're dense and haven't noticed. We don't keep good track of who
has been pinned. Subtle hints help, but please keep them subtle. |
||
| Can you gatelist me for a faire? | ||
If you're expecting to find a way into faire through us, we're not who you're looking for. You can go to the links section and look up and guild to join for that. Or talk to a booth and get a job working for them. We do have lots of friends in guilds and booths and are happy to introduce you. |
||
| What's with the bios? | ||
The bios are just a silly little way for people to find out a bit more about L.O.O.P.E.D. friends. If you become a friend of ours, you can pretty much expect to be nagged silly until you fill one out. If you haven't done one yet, please send us one. |
||
| Who gives out pins? | ||
With the exception of Perry, the only people who should be giving out any L.O.O.P.E.D. pin is Jerry, Tom, Tony, or Brad. No one else should be giving out pins. They're a gift from the founders. |
||
| More about the Pretzel | ||
| Certain pretzel historians claim the
pretzel is the world's oldest snack food. Further, the pretzel is
believed to have been invented by an Italian Monk in the 6th century
who rewarded church- going youngsters with this doughy bribe.
The word pretzel probably descends from the Latin word "Pretzola", or "little reward", and evolved into the Italian word "brachiola" which means "little arms." Legend has it that the pretzel represents arms crossed in prayer, and that the three holes represent the Trinity. The pretzel probably traveled to America with the Palantine Germans who were later known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. Not too surprisingly, the German word for pretzel is "bretzel". With a sprinkle of salt, a famous snack was born. The sharing of food crosses cultures and religions as a way for people to be united. Even today, if you go to Kamchatka in the former Soviet Union, you will be presented with bread as a form of greeting. Our pretzels that we hand out at faire are a way for us to connect with all people, and to share the gift of life. For that is what food really is. L.O.O.P.E.D. is all about us trying to make new contacts with people, and maintaining the old. We love nothing better than marching up to a complete stranger and offering something for nothing--something which this person is likely to enjoy. And so the pretzel emerged as our ultimate conversation starter. An easily recognized symbol, that is definitely period, the pretzel also forms infinite loops, representing the never-ending nature of our friendship and the interconnections of our relations with others. It is our hope that people we come to know will wear the pretzel as a symbol of their connection to us, and that others will come to recognize this symbol and extend their social relations because of it. Among the advantages of a pretzel are it's size and appeal. It's small and easy to carry in large numbers. We fill our pouches with them in the morning, and always have plenty to give seconds on request. Our pretzels are handy for making contact with people at a distance do to their aerodynamically suitable density. They hook well on piercings, fit in cleavage, and tie on clothing. With it's religious connotations, even uptight puritans can't refuse a good pretzel once their religious history is explained. And the beer-drinking lower-classes always love a good pretzel to compliment their ale. So when you see a member of L.O.O.P.E.D. wearing the pretzel symbol, come up and ask us for a pretzel. We'll be happy to comply. And if you're really in the spirit, you'll carry on the fellowship that is the true spirit of L.O.O.P.E.D.
last updated August 16th, 2003 |
||