A few photos from the past.

Here are a few photos from the Jubilee Olde English Faire that was held on the 21st and 22nd of June. They are of the archers shooting on the line during one of our demonstrations and the other one is of me describing what is going on while the archers are collecting their arrows. Normally I wear the same type of garb the archers do, but on Sunday I decided to change it up by wearing my green wool cotehardie with wool felt cap. I had not worn that set since my wife and I renewed our vows at Jubilee eight years ago. It thought it was time to try it on again and it still fits! The fair was a great time. The weather was fantastic and St. Sebastian had more people attending than we have had in a long time. It was a great time to be with everyone again. The faire itself was very festive and people were really enjoying themselves this year. More photos of the faire will be posted as I get them.

Later!

Cool Recommendation for music

A recommendation for some heart pounding, foot stomping, ear splitting, and nose bleeding music that we discovered at the Jubilee Olde English Faire in Brimfield Ill.


The group is called Albannach and I have been listening to their CD "Eye of the Storm" here at work.... softly, but only reluctantly. It needs to be played LOUD!!!

Albannach is a Scottish group from, of course, Scotland and they have been touring the US and visiting Renn faires and the such and making big waves and tons of new fans... myself included.

They played at the fair, just about at the end of the St. Sebastian Archery demonstration and were at least 100 yards or more away, and I could not yell loud enough to be heard over them. Anyway, I did not mind. It was great music. And they music they make is updated traditional stuff and original stuff and it makes no bones about their love of their country and what they think of the the English all all that hubabaloo. They have the pipes, the bodhrans, and the kettle drums. Yes.. huge scottish kettle (war)drums and they beat the hell out of them.

This is great stuff! Check it out at www.albannachonline.com

I highly recommend the track "The Gael" which is a remake of certain parts of the Last of the Mohican soundtrack. Great stuff.

And to my buddy Chuck in Minnesota... I think even you would have loved this music!

Later!

Face in the paper!

Here is a link to a newpaper article about the recent Jubilee Olde English Fair held in Brimfield Il, June 21-22, 2008

http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1816436224/Back-to-the-days-of-olde

on the left side of the margin are related photos. One is of me and a "volunteer" and the other is of my son and another boy in the group cleaning up after I cleaned a crane for the afternoon meal.

It was a great weekend for the fair and I will get more photos up soon!

Later

Off to the Past again!

The Jubilee Olde English Faire is this weekend and I will be spending my time and talents at it once again. I will be there all weekend long. Check back for photos and updates on the past.

Later!

Book recommendations....

I have had the bad luck to have recently read two books that I really really wanted to be good reads, but both were lack luster and somewhat hard to complete. The first is WinterBorn by Brain Ruckley. Set in a somewhat "scottish" winter fantasy setting, the book details the machinations of the "Bloods" (clans) who live in the area and compete for power, land and the such, all the while a sort of elvish type of people are thrown into the mix to add a bit of magic and fantasy to the story. The Kyrinin (elf types) are more akin to Native Americans, but yet are considered non-human. They are the most interesting characters in the book, but only barely so. I really wanted this book to be great, hopeing that just after the next page something really cool was gonna happen, but sad to say, it did not. It is about 630 pages long and believe it or not, I almost put the book down at page 619! There is a sequel, but I don't know if I will be picking it up. The last 10 pages or so did start to come together and started to make sense, but I don't know if it was enough to make me consider getting it when it comes out. One good thing about this book was while looking for reviews about this book, I came across an author who has a book called "First the Blade" and "Before they all hang" which I was able to read the first chapter of. The one chapter of the first book was better than the entirety of "Winterborn" so I will be on the lookout for "First the Blade."

The second book comes from author Anne Rice, of the Vampire books fame. It is "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt." Here I was expected Anne Rice style of writing, but instead I got something much simpler, and sad to say, more bland and boring. I was looking for some insight in the Jesus's younger years, but what I got was alot of talk about walking, sleeping, crying, questions asked and not answered, and who is related to whom. There are some really good spots in the book but each of them sputters out and is continued on with very lack luster story telling. I will be reading the second in this series, only because I recieved it from a giveaway. I hope it is better than the first.

Oh, and I should mention, I also finished "World without End" by Ken Follett, about life in the 14th Century and a continuation of his previous work, "Pillars of the Earth." All I can say about this book, is READ IT!!!! Fantastic read!

Later!

Gold, Glory, and HUGE T... tankards of Ale!

All right here at the Dragon Tavern! Dragon Tavern is a very simple online game that is somewhat of a role playing game and somewhat of a rock/paper/sissors game that allows you to create a character and take him or her out to adventure, kick some butt, take some gold and try to increase your skills and level. It is very very simple, but yet quite a bit of fun. You get to do things with Action Points, (AP) but only 50 a day. You can buy some more, but that to me is just the stupidest thing... pay money to buy action point or things like that for online game characters. I have heard of people selling stuff like this on ebay but it is not for me. Go to www.dragontavern.com and try it out. It is a good way to waste about 30 minutes on the computer. And you compete against noone except others in experience points and how far you can go before your character dies.

Well, it is official!!! I'm and expert!

It is in print so it must be true! I am doing a medieval presentation on the 3rd of July at the public library and I have officially be declared a medieval expert in weaponry and warfare. This link will take you to the site to see for yourself, but I will include the text here as they will most likely update their calendar and erase any evidence of my being an expert in anything.

http://www.champaign.org/events/events.html?yyyy=2008&mm=7&dd=3

July 3: Medieval Fair. Princes and princesses, knights and dragons are hereby invited to an afternoon of fun and frolic, games and crafts, and a presentation on weaponry and warfare by medieval expert Deane Geiken.

See? See!? I really do know what I am talking about!


Just call me Mr.Expert next time you see me....

Later!

News from the past

For those of you who are familiar with the Elite Diner in Urbana, Illinois, go Miri's Dad's blog at the link and find out what ever happened to the big silver tube that sat near Vine Street for all those years!!

http://mirisdad.blogspot.com/2008/06/whatever-happened-tothe-elite-diner.html

First the Guns, now the knives...

Looks like the gun ban in Britain has opened up a new wave of violence that any normal person could have told you was going to happen. Young people, primarily 18 and under, those same people who would not have been able to get a gun in the first place, are increasingly turing to cutlery to take their aggression out on others. Factoids from the AP story are that in 2006 17 teenagers were killed in London by people using knives, 27 in 2007, and 16 so far this year! "Many young people there are saying the pressure to carry and use knives is growing. It's increasing. It is stupid things like 'you have spoken to my girlfriend, I'll slash you up,' or 'If I see him out, he having it.'"

You all know I am totally against any kind of further gun restriction laws because the ones we already have don't work, and frankly if more law abiding people were allowed to carry their guns on any given day, fewer criminals would be willing to take a chance on hurting someone during a crime, or even attempt the crime. Go look it up for yourself. More guns in the right hands produce less crime. I am not gonna belabor this argument. You know how I stand. Either accept it or shove off.

Now it looks like places like London are going to start placing bans on knives. They have lowered the age limit to those who can be charged by carrying a knife to 16. With the charge, anyone 16 or over carrying a knife with a blade 3 inches or more will be prosecuted and could face up to 4 years in prison. The mayor has even proposed searching people for knives without having to justify their suspicions beforehand. Hey, my pocketknife, which I literally use everyday (without anyone, save myself, getting hurt or killed with) is over 3 inches!

I can see where eventually the head in the sand, namby-pamby take more of my rights away so I can be safe, gun control idiots in this country will pick up on this and start to regulate whether or not I can carry my pocketknife.

And then what next? My walking stick?!

Worth looking at....

Here is a great blog to read and to keep up with. It is about Daniel: A medical student and combat amputee taking a road trip around the U.S. to see the land he dedicated eleven and half years of his life to and meet his fellow Americans. It well written and funny and inspiring.

You can find it at http://danielsbigtrip.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Ain't this cool!?

Trap shooting taken to a new, cooler, geekier level! Enjoy!
Later!