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I'd say we were happy to be back in LA, a town that everyone is familiar with, but leave it up to Battleground Earth to still put us out of our element – the Renaissance Faire.
We rolled into the fair grounds bright and early – 8 AM. By now, you'd think that we were used to early mornings, but apparently that's not the case. After driving through the night, everyone was pretty tired, but they all woke up when they were thrown into jester hats and peasant blouses. We were all pretty confused as to what the Renaissance era had to do with being green in 2008. After all, they can't really expect us to start riding horses in order to reduce greenhouse gases (can they?).
To get us warmed up to the Renaissance Way of doing things, Tommy Lee and Ludacris were instructed to choose a knight to represent them in a jousting competition. Tommy Lee choose Johnny Colt, while Ludacris threw 4-ize into the ring.
The guys were fitted for armor, and everyone laughed at 4-ize, who couldn't stop squirming around and complaining that the metal was cold. He shaped up though when the Queen arrived to greet them and present the rules of the battle. With her word, the jousting began.
Nobody actually thought that this fight would last very long, but they proved us all wrong. After they were done showing off their skills, the fight actually got pretty furious. 4-ize jousted JC right off the horse, and, in a brilliant move, JC grabbed the lance that was aimed at his head and yanked 4-ize down to the field as well. The sword work didn't stop once they were on solid ground, and they came to a John Woo-style stand off, each having put the other in check with a blade. Everyone was holding their breath, wondering what was going to happen next – then the Queen stepped in and called the fight a draw.
After all the excitement, we got some time to relax and check out the Fair. We went on a walk with a 9-foot tall human tree, and Tommy got a lesson on how to sew up the holes in his jeans from a Renaissance-style seamstress.
It wasn't long before we ran into Mario, who issued us our next mission. We had to make our own paper out of pulp from recycled products, and then use a 19th century printing press to create an announcement that would be read to everyone at the fair.
This mission was a little bit messy, but I guess that's what made it fun. The best part of the challenge though, was the message that we got to print on the paper – it was an announcement for a green "graduation" party that we got to throw that evening.
After all that we learned on the trip, throwing a green party wasn't quite as difficult, or as boring, as we thought it would be. Instead of a guest list and bouncers, we had e-waste recyclers at the door collecting old electronics to recycle. One girl actually hauled in a computer monitor that must have been made before Sesean was born.
We were also sporting organic finger-foods, organic vodka, organic mixers, and even organic beer. We even used eco-friendly bulbs for lighting. And, of course, we had plenty of recycling bins, which, by then, were a no-brainer to us - however a lot of the guests seemed surprised to be putting their plastic cup or beer can somewhere other than the trash can or the floor.
They were sure that they had their green gradation party nailed. Tommy Lee was spinning, the organic alcohol was flowing, and everyone was having a great time. Next thing you know, the music stops and all lights are on Bob Eubanks, who is standing right in the middle of the dance floor. Ludacris and Tommy were both completely speechless.
So instead of showing off their skills on the dance floor, they were sitting on the set of "Battlegame Earth". I guess you can't be mad, though, when Bob Eubanks is hosting the show. Besides, they got to show off their new-found green knowledge, which comes in handy when "Green is the New Black." I was actually really surprised and impressed with everything that they learned over the past 30 days and 30 nights. It's nice to sit down and put everything into perspective once in a while, and I guess Bob Eubanks did just that.
The adventure is almost over!
~Roadie T
Get more info on this episode of Battleground Earth.
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