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!

The Final Frontier...

Just some news to pass along if you missed it... From the AP news story. Note that even he said "whoosh" to the opening credits, just like the rest of us!




"Star Trek" theme composer Alexander Courage dies
By ROBERT JABLON – 14 hours ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Alexander "Sandy" Courage, an Emmy-winning and Academy Award-nominated arranger, orchestrator and composer who created the otherworldly theme for the classic "Star Trek" TV show, has died. He was 88.

Courage died May 15 at the Sunrise assisted-living facility in Pacific Palisades, his stepdaughter Renata Pompelli of Los Angeles, said Thursday. He had been in poor health for three years.

Over a decades-long career, Courage collaborated on dozens of movies and orchestrated some of the greatest musicals of the 1950s and 1960s, including "My Fair Lady," "Hello, Dolly!" "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," "Gigi," "Porgy and Bess" and "Fiddler on the Roof."

But his most famous work is undoubtedly the "Star Trek" theme, which he composed, arranged and conducted in a week in 1965.

"I have to confess to the world that I am not a science fiction fan," Courage said in an interview for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation's Archive of American Television in 2000. "Never have been. I think it's just marvelous malarkey. ... So you write some, you hope, marvelous malarkey music that goes with it."

Courage said the tune, with its ringing fanfare, eerie soprano part and swooping orchestration, was inspired by an arrangement of the song "Beyond the Blue Horizon" he heard as a youngster.

"Little did I know when I wrote that first A-flat for the flute that it was going to go down in history, somehow," Courage said. "It's a very strange feeling."

Courage said he also mouthed the "whooshing" sound heard as the starship Enterprise zooms through the opening credits of the TV show.

"Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry later wrote lyrics to the tune, which were never sung on the show but entitled him to half the royalties, Courage said.

Among the many other projects Courage worked on was the 1987 TV special "Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas," for which he won an Emmy for musical direction.

He and Lionel Newman shared Academy Award nominations for their adapted scores for 1964's "The Pleasure Seekers" and 1967's "Doctor Dolittle."

A friend and colleague of movie composers John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith, he also provided the orchestration for such movies as "The Poseidon Adventure," "Jurassic Park," "Basic Instinct" and "The Mummy" and supplied arrangements for the Boston Pops while Williams was conductor in the 1980s and early 1990s.

For "Star Trek" he composed music for only a few episodes, in addition to the theme and the music for the pilot. But that theme was reprised in the TV sequel "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and in the "Star Trek" movies.

Courage was born Dec. 10, 1919, in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey. After graduation from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., in 1941, Courage enlisted in the Army Air Corps.

After the war, he became a composer for CBS radio shows and then became an orchestrator and arranger at MGM.

Beginning in the 1960s he composed music for TV shows, including "The Waltons," "Lost in Space" and "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," although the only themes he created were for "Star Trek" and "Judd For the Defense."

Finally I am over that fear....

Yesterday was an interesting day. I travelled with my son's 8th grade trip to Six Flags north of Chicago. Plans were to go and enjoy the day at Six Flags and Hurricane Harbor. Well, weather being what it is in Illinois, we were looking at a high of 57 degrees and a closed waterpark. And that was not good news for me. I really like water parks and was looking forward to spending most of my time there. Instead I was going to spend all of my say at Six Flags. Not especially good news. I am not a fan of ride attraction theme parks and I have never been a fan of roller coasters and the like as I have been known to get motion sick on rides like this. Mind, you I have never gotten sick on a roller coaster, but more like rides that have repetitive motions like the Tilt-A-Whirl and things like that. But I avoided roller coasters in the past and was thinking that I would be doing the same this day too. WRONG! I was traveling with a fellow parent and friend (Ed) and he enjoys rollercoasters, at least to an extent. I knew that eventually I would have to face the inevitable question of "What ride do you want to go on first?" Responding with "None of them." was not going to be an option. So while looking all of them over very carefully, I agreed to go on the Superman ride, which to my inexperienced eye, looked fairly tame. So, I found my self in line with fellow parent and a couple of other students and prepared myself for something I have not done since I was like 18 years old. I kept telling myself that this will only last about a minute and if I get sick, well, then I would deal with that later. Ed, kept giving me a bit of a rubbing about trying to get me to scream like a girl before the end of the day, so I said we could avoid all this waiting in line and stuff, cause I could scream like a girl right here on the ground. All I needed to know was how loud and how long. (that idea did not work) I must add, I am not afraid of heights, nor am afraid of getting trashed around on things. It is the fear of getting motion sick that bothers me, as when i get motion sick, it really sticks with me for a long time and can make a long day even longer. I was most concerned with getting motion sick and having to sit around the rest of the day, looking green, and feeling like crap. But there I was in the SuperMan ride line and after about 30 minutes of standing in line, I was next in line to get on the damned thing, and realized that I was not nervous anymore. So I sat down, strapped in, and got ready for a ride. 40 seconds later, I returned to my feet, still alive and not feeling sick. And you know what, it was not that bad, as a matter of fact it was actually quite fun for someone who doesn't do that sort of thing and I even managed to go on a few more that day without any ill effects. It was quite nice getting that fear over and done with. I don't have to worry about that anymore. I can join others on rides like this instead of standing around waiting. I still will not be able to do the spinning and twisting rides, nor can I ride in a car backseat for very long without getting sick, but at least I don't have to bypass roller coaster rides anymore. Now, if I can just convince my son that they won't kill him, maybe he can get over his fear too.

Later!

Not even a Ninja (wannabe) can stop a dog!

More proof of the superior quality of dogs! To quote Frederick the Great of Prussia: "The more I see of men, the better I like my dog."

http://www.buffalonews.com/258/story/351106.html


Full Story:
Pit bull saves owner from Samurai-sword-wielding boyfriend

Updated: 05/20/08 8:45 AM

A domestic dispute that included the use of a Samurai sword and a pit bull led a Jamestown man to jump out a second-floor window Monday night, before he was apprehended hiding between some mattresses on a nearby porch, Jamestown police said.

The incident began at about 8:10 p.m., when a concerned neighbor called 911 to report a loud domestic dispute on West 10th Street. Police later learned that a 27-year-old man had punched his girlfriend in the head and put the sword to her throat, before her pit bull bit him several times, police said.

As officers were interviewing the 28-year-old woman, a neighbor told police that the man had jumped out the bedroom window. Wearing only jeans and socks, he was tracked down by the Jamestown police K-9 Unit and found lying between several mattresses stacked vertically on a West 10th Street back porch.

Officers charged Nicholas Clark of North Main Street with assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.

Another Video Game turned film... in this case... COOL!!

For most of you who do not have an XBOX 360 or have ever played this game, this will pretty much fall flat, but for those of you who do, it will make you pretty excited to hear this... BIOSHOCK the video game, is coming to the big screen. I have been playing this game for the last few months now and it is a very well done game, winning all kinds of awards and lots of praise from gamers everywhere. The game is hard to describe but basically you are a normal dude that by chance ends up in an art deco underwater environment that was supposed to be a free will sort of place but ended up going really bad... and to survive you are forced, for the most part, to decide whether or not you enhance yourself physically to make youself stronger and able to use special powers and you have a number of moral decisions, like helping or hurting little "sisters" in order to get further in the game. It is a very deep game and very nerve wracking and often, quite creepy. Anyway, it is a big seller and the guy who made "Pirates" is picking it up. I copied the story from Yahoo and posted it below. This could be a really cool movie, especially when fans are involved in the making.

Later!



Fri May 9, 2:51 PM ET



SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Take-Two Interactive Software Inc said on Friday that "Pirates of the Caribbean" director Gore Verbinski will make a movie version of "BioShock," its hit video game about an underwater utopia gone disastrously wrong.

The movie will be made by Universal Pictures, a unit of NBC Universal owned by General Electric Co, and John Logan, the screenwriter behind "Gladiator" and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," was in talks to pen the script, Take-Two said.

"Gore is an avid video gamer and true fan of 'BioShock'. That was extremely important to us in deciding to move forward with this project," Christoph Hartmann, president of Take-Two's 2K Games label, said in a statement.

Take-Two did not disclose financial terms of the deal or other details, such as when the film would be released. The company is the target of a $2 billion takeover bid by rival game publisher Electronic Arts Inc.

Released last August for Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 game console, "BioShock" won praise for its complex story, haunting art deco atmosphere and creepy characters such as Big Daddies and Little Sisters.

"BioShock" has sold more than 2 million copies and Take-Two is working on a sequel.

The "BioShock" movie deal is the latest sign of the growing importance of video games in popular culture.

Earlier this week, Take-Two said its "Grand Theft Auto 4" criminal action game racked up more than $500 million in global sales in its first week.

That handily topped Hollywood's biggest film debut, Verbinski's "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which pulled in $406 million in global box office receipts in its first six days.

Microsoft made headlines when it signed "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson to produce a movie adaptation of its hit "Halo" video game, but the project was put on hold in 2006 when financial backers Universal and 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp pulled out of the deal.

Reuters/Nielsen

Things you learn as a cook and event planner

Greetings! I am sorry I have not updated my blog in a while. I have been neck deep in a huge fundraiser for my office and it has taken most of my time and the blog was the last thing I could think about. But today is a bit smoother and I decided to put down some observations about planning a large meal, cooking that meal and cleaning up that meal.


The meal was for the Mother/Daughter/Friend banquet at my church. Last year the men stepped up to cook a meal for the banquet as catering it was getting too pricey and most of the ladies didn't think we could do it. Well, we did and we did it well. This year it was kind of expected that we would do it again, and we agreed. My buddy Dave and I were pretty much in charge of last year's meal and we got the nod to go ahead and do it again this year. This year we decided to go with Tomato Basil and Lemon Pepper pork loins with italian seasoned asparagus, with wild rice and balsamic vingrete and honey grilled peaches. Desert was to be ice cream with little sugar snacky things flavored with strawberry. The menu was tried out on a small group and knew it was good, but that was with 10 people and not 100! Anyway, we did the meal on the 6th and it turned out well and everyone was happy. But in the course of doing this, I observed and learned a few things about preparing a meal for 100 plus people.

- Church kitchens are set up for serving guests, not cooking for them
- If you stir rice too much, you get wallpaper paste. (I know this, but was unable to stop it from happening)
- There really is such a thing as too many cooks in the kitchen.
- There is no substitute for a real fire grill when it comes to making grilled food. It just can't be done properly.
- There is no such thing as a fresh peach in the month of May. (at least on in Illinois!)
- NO cooking banquet event will be a success without a good working crew. (of that, we were in abundance of!!!)
- When clearing the food plates, and if you are the cook/planner, do not be the one that scrapes the plates... every plate you find with food on it you will take as a personal insult because they did not finish their food.
- No matter what you prepare, SOMEONE will ask for Ketchup!!
- Leaving them with a tasty dessert can fix main meal problems.
- And I know now why cooks/foody types drink after preparing meals... they need to!


All in all, the banquet was a great success and it was fun! It is however, a fairly involved activity and you alway want to please or at least satisfy them all. I think we did it last night at the banquet.. or maybe they were just being nice.

That is all for now! Take it for what it's worth!

Later!

Dogs are good... no matter what 3rd world country they are stuck in...

Another reason that third world countries should stay third world and more proof that dogs really are man's (and woman's) best friend... WOOF!!!! Dogs ROCK!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080422/od_nm/child_dc_1

PATNA, India (Reuters) - Hundreds of villagers have flocked to a remote Indian village to see a baby girl who was saved by stray dogs after she was abandoned in a mound of mud by her mother, officials said on Tuesday.

Villagers in the eastern state of Bihar saved the newborn on the weekend after they saw three dogs barking near a baby covered with mud.

"The dogs removed the soil around and began to bark and the baby started crying which drew attention of the local villagers," Ram Narayan Sahani, a senior government official, said on Tuesday from Bihar's Samastipur district.

"The girl is crying but is safe in the lap of a childless couple who have adopted her."

Police said they were looking for the girl's mother, who they think had left the girl to die.

Female foeticide, though illegal in India, is widespread as boys are traditionally preferred to girls as breadwinners, and families have to pay huge dowries to marry off their daughters.

The United Nations says an estimated 2,000 unborn girls are illegally aborted every day in India.

(Writing by Bappa Majumdar; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Guess that accent you all hear is your hearing problem!

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The South
The Northeast
The West
Boston
North Central
http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have">What American accent do you have? http://www.gotoquiz.com/">Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I have often been accused of having a bit of a drawl in my speech patterns... well according to this, I guess I's just a derned midwesterner. Sheet, I got nuthing agin anyone with a accent.

later!

I drank what!?!?!?

This came in an email from my good gamer buddy Stu in North Dakota! Take it for what it's worth!


To my friends who enjoy a glass of wine and those who don't.
As Ben Franklin said: In wine there is wisdom, in Beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria.
In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia Coli (E. Coli) bacteria in feces. In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop.
However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine and beer (or tequila, rum, whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.
Remember; Water = Poop, Wine = Health. Therefore it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of shit.
There is no need to thank me for this valuable information: I am doing it as a public service.


Later!

Tastes good so far!

An update on my wine making efforts! So far we have a Liebfraumilch, a Merlot and a Carbernet in the bottle with a Port close to bottleing. Both my fellow vintner and I are sci-fi geeks, (first and foremost Star Trek) and so we decided to honor that love of Star Trek with a few labels giving a nod to the best Sci-Fi creation ever! Here are pics of the first two sets of labels we have come up with. More labels that will expose our geekiness will be forthcoming. I think that some of my labels may move into the fantasy genre shortly. Possibly with the Port.... Wish you could enjoy a bottle with me! By the way, we are not selling our wine..... only giving it away to those who wish to try it.

Later!

Turkey Run State Park

Over the recent spring break, the family and I headed out to Turkey Run State Park, Indiana. This has been a favorite place for me to go and enjoy the outdoors, get some great excersize and enjoy the scenery. If you have nver been before, you will be amazed that this place is in the mid-west and not someplace out west or near the mountains. The natural formations of erosion of the sandstone and shale is really awe inspiring. It is a very well cared for location and kudos to the Indiana DNR for taking such good care of it. I was not able to enjoy it as much as I normally do as I had an injury to my knee at the time and spent most of the time dragging my leg behind me, but we still did some of the hardest trails the park has to offer. The kids and Gunnar really enjoyed the chance to just climb and go off leash - so to speak. They have quite a nice campground near by and the Turkey Run Inn is really nice and about half of what you would expect for a place that nice. My wife and I will be taking advantage of the Inn sometime this year I think. (especially seeing how cheap it is over the "off" season.) I encourage everyone to check it out if they have the time. And make sure you do trail number 3! It is the best of them all! Later!

Those hood wearing thugs!

Check out this article from the Telegraphco.uk website! Maybe I should try to incorporate the "hood"lum aspect into the the re-enacting that I do. I know of a couple of teenagers that could pull it off!


'Hoodies' were the scourge of Medieval London By Laura Clout
Last Updated: 1:20am BST 08/04/2008
They are the symbol of today's disaffected youth but a historian has revealed that the hoodie-wearing yob is not just a modern problem.
Professor Robert Bartlett, who is an expert on the Middle Ages, said hooded tops were also the garment of choice for 12th-century juvenile delinquents.
The teenage apprentice boys of London were lawless, violent and the scourge of the capital."They were away from home for seven years with no parental control and they would riot regularly for political and religious reasons," he told the Radio Times.
Hooded tops were worn by most citizens during medieval winters, he said, and they also served to hide the identity of young miscreants.
Prof Bartlett, of the University of St Andrews, said the life of the period resonated with today in other ways.
The English, who are now among the worst binge-drinkers in Europe, were also renowned as drunks in the Middle Ages.
"A surviving 12th-century Latin manuscript refers disapprovingly to 'Potatrix Anglia' - 'England the drunken'," said Prof Bartlett, who is presenting the series Inside the Medieval Mind on BBC4, starting next Thursday.
He will reveal the opening of the North-South divide, with the first recorded case - in 1120 - of a southerner complaining that he is unable to understand the speech of a northerner.

More demo photos...

Here are the photos from the DAR talk in Sibley. All the kids present were winners for various topics or categories sponsored by the DAR. If you notice, Cora, my daughter is not smiling as there were dozens of people taking photos and it was kind of a late night the night before. She was tired and maybe just a bit embarassed by all the attention. She did a great job at the presentation though.

Rest in Peace... job well done!

Thank you and good-bye to Charlton Heston, best know to most gun owners not as the actor who supported 2nd Amendment rights, but as the best president the NRA has probably ever had. The image of him with a flintlock rifle raised above his head, commenting to Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore, saying "from my cold dead hands!" is iconic for most 2nd Amendment right supporters. He pretty much changed the landscape of politics when it came to gun issues and did it with class and style. Job well done. Maybe someday another similar personality like his will take the president's position and do a good of a job. Some people would say Ted Nugent might make for an interesting NRA president. "Interesting" would be an understatement!

Remember that the 2nd Amendment is the 2nd one on the list... right behind the freedom of speech, religion and press.... standing behind to insure that the First is protected!

Later!

Working in the Past Tense...

Just a bit of an update to the blog. This last weekend I think I spent more time in historical costume than I did my 21st century clothes. I did a 14th Century demo at the Monticello Middle School, talking about archery and general subjects to the 6th grade class. I really love going there cause the kids are really receptive and the librarian does a bang up job of making a whole week long affair on studying the middle ages. A parent with a decent camera sent me some photos of the archery talks and demonstration and some of the general discussion. As is apparent from the photos I have started wearing armor and such at more an more demos as I am slowly trying to get a decent man-at-arms gear together. I am just about there. All I really need is some better footwear or leg protection to make it all work. And if you notice, in both photos I am wearing weaponry at no time did any kid go crazy and try to take the blades or something stupid like this. I like the fact that most schools are starting to understand that this zero tolerance for weaponry on school property needs to be dialed back a bit so that some teaching and learning can be done. While you can talk about the middle ages and not mention warfare, you are leaving out alot of discussion of "policy making" that went on at that time. I am finding that many more schools are opening their doors to having demonstrators come in and bringing their tools of the trade, even if those tools are guns and knives sometimes.

I also did a talk for the DAR (Daughters of the Revolution) in Sibley, IL. This was a incredibly receptive audience and I was really in a groove talking with them. We could have gone on and on with a Q and A session but they had students to recognize with awards and they normally have fairly short meetings. But this was a really smart group of people and they got into the presentation, which very quickly turned into a discussion group, which I found refreshing! I will load up some photos from that soon if I get any from the photographers.

That is all for now. I promise to do better in the future!

later!

How much do you know about.... Civics?

My wife sent me a link to a short civics trivia test. The quiz is made up of 20 questions found on the actual citizenship test with a few curveballs in the mix. The last ten questions may be a bit harder, but a score of around 24 out of 30 is considered a passing grade. They score you on the number right and you can compare it to others in your state, and to others in your age range. It is pretty cool! I got a 26 on the test, which is 6 points higher than most people in my age range and state of residence.

Check it out at http://games.toast.net/independence/

Let me know what you get!

Later!

Sorry for the delay...

Sorry I have not been more attentive to the blog. A lot of stuff going on. I have a huge project at work that is taking up most of the brain cells in my head, things are busy around home, and I have been distracted by a injury (maybe) to my right knee. The doctor suspects I have a torn meniscus (cartilage) that will maybe require some outpatient surgery. We will see. However, to let you know what has been happening, I have a number of history demos coming up soon, (Love them, as they pay really well!) and I and working on the next two batches of DeeJay Cellars wine. They are a Port and a Cabernet. Both are about two weeks or more from bottling. And I am eagerly awaiting Easter, as I gave up Soda, all candy, and all potatoe products for Lent. (I am not a Catlikker, but a Lutheran, but I see a good lesson in the practice of giving up things for Lent.) I am not really missing anything, but I am looking forward to having a chance at eating those danged Kathryn Beich candy bars my son is selling for his Scout Troop! Dang those caramel bars are good. I hear them calling my name! Anyway, that is all for now.

Later!

The Dungeon Master is dead...

The world of role playing lost it's greatest treasure yesterday. E. Gary Gygax, the creator of the role playing game Dungeons and Dragons and arguably the biggest influence on all role playing out there today, died of an abdominal anuerism at the age of 69. The story can be found at http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9885383-1.html or just about any where on the net. Alot of people are writing about their feelings, and I find it very heartening that they are not being depressed and morose about it, but taking it rather well and giving him the kind of comments that I think he would have enjoyed. I am giving you a sample of those I have come across.

"Too bad he didn't get to re-roll his savings throw. The Lord is a harsh DM indeed. This is a sad day. Should've had an amulet of health or something.I mean, think about it, if Gary Gygax hadn't created D&D, how different my life would have been. I probably would've played sports, gone outside more, had sex before going to college, been more popular... Damnit Gary, YOU RUINED MY LIFE!!!"
"j/k My life has been infinitely more interesting thanks to the stuff I learned by gaming."

"No testament I've read yet even touches on how important this man's efforts have been in absolutely everything enjoyable in my life - EVEN if I didn't play DnD on a regular basis, the sheer idea of role-playing, creating adventures, looking forward to sharing awesome ideas in gaming environments with buds with pizza and pepsi and later beer and smokes and Magic the Gathering all traces back to the simple ideas this guy brought forth of randomizing storytelling in the fantasy worlds of swords, knights and dragons. World of Warcraft would not be without him. The Lord of the Rings movies, likewise. Supremely important this being was. He deserves a mountain throne, an elven palace or some elemental plane named after him."

"What loot did he drop?"

"What...no saving throw?
:-(
Well, I guess we all have to go meet the 'Dungeon Master' in the sky at some point...."

"Get the cleric."

reply- "That would permanently lower his constitution by one. I don't think Gary would want to live that way."

second reply- "Are you sure? Start with Speak with Dead and ask!
Unfortunately, I think his death qualifies as Death From Old Age and Raise Dead, Resurrection, and True Resurrection specifically exclude that."

"No one gets out of "HIS" adventures alive at the end of the game."

And finally, the one that made me laugh the most:

"I find it ironic that the man credited for preventing so much sex had six kids himself."


As for myself, I have been playing Gary's game or some version of it ever since I was about 12 years old or so. And now my son plays it too. I was hooked from the moment I opened the basic boxed set, oh, so many years ago and never let go of that desire to play. I was fortunate to meet him at Gen Con 2007 and got my photo taken with him and my son. I even got his signature on my D&D book. That's a Pretty Cool Thing in the the geek world.

Alot of the gaming I did was influential to my imagination, hobbies, and in some ways, view of life now a days. Thanks, Gary! It has been, and will continue to be fun.

Later!

My Nerd Score

Granted I am taking a que from my buddy Chuck at Miri's Dad on Blogger.com, but I thought it would be fun to add my Nerd Score in my blog too.



So, I am, like most things in life, a little bit more than average than the rest of the people I meet.

Yes, I am a gamer, and XBOXer, a Trekkie, and all those other things that get you called a geek or nerd, but at least I embrace the fact!

Later!

Oh those sexy, tawdry Vikings.... Gudrun, you look so hot!

Check out this new article from Yahoo. I always refused to believe that our Western European ancestors only though that mud and dirt were the pinnacle of fashion!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080227/sc_nm/viking_dress_dc_1

LONDON (Reuters) - Vikings were much snappier dressers than thought, according to new evidence unearthed by a Swedish researcher.
The men were especially vain while the women dressed provocatively, adorning themselves in vivid colors, silk ribbons and glittering bits of mirrors, said Annika Larsson, a textile researcher at Uppsala University in Sweden.
"They combined oriental features with Nordic styles," she said in a statement. "Their clothing was designed to be shown off indoors around the fire."
The findings are based on the Swedish Vikings who traveled east into what is now Russia rather than the Danish or Norwegian Vikings who went west.
Until Larsson's discovery in the Russian region of Pskov near Novgorod -- in an area used as an Eastern trade route -- most people had believed Viking dress was conservative.
Her findings included a blue dress with a train fastened to the breasts with clasps to highlight the figure, she said.
These kind of ornate features in clothing, however, disappeared with the onset of medieval Christian fashion during a time the Swedish Vikings pushed into Western Europe, she said.
"It's easy to imagine that the Christian church had certain reservations about clothing that accentuated the breasts in this way," Larsson said.
(Reporting by Michael Kahn, Editing by Myra MacDonald)

It's Alive!

Well, after about 3 weeks of carefully treatment and monitoring, the first bottles of DeeJay Cellars wines have been bottled. We have bottled 28, 750
ml bottles of Merlot wine. This first batch of wine is name Red Shirt Merlot, giving honor to all those poor red shirted Star Trek guys that never made it back from a landing party or away team. The merlot, which still needs to age for at least three months has at this moment, a very buttery texture to it, with a good sense of oak and raspberry essence to it. It does seem to be a bit on the weaker side, but I think that is due to the relative newness of the wine. We figure the alcohol content is around 13%. I think the body and texture of the wine will definately improve with time. Plans are to open a bottle in one month, compare it to our first taste, and then compare another bottle at three months. For those who I have told I will share some wine, you can certainly expect a decent bottle of good table merlot, that will go with a nice sirloin and vegetables, and even go well with a pizza or pasta meal with tomato sauce.

In the photos you can see my son with the two fermenters. The merlot is to the back of the first photo and the liebfraumilch is still in the process of fermenting. The next two are the first couple of bottles of wine being corked with a very nice piece of machinery that makes bottleing very easy. Further along is the wine being racked from the carboy to the bottles. It really was about a three man operation and took about 20 minutes to get 28 bottles corked. The next is a shot of just some of our "babies" waiting to go to sleep for about three months. And finally, my vinting partner and I enjoy the very first glass of DeeJay Cellars Red Shirt Merlot.

The next bottling will tak place in late February or early march and if it is good, it will be the Kohlinar Liebfraumilch.

Yes, we are both Star Trek Geeks! (don't worry, not all the wines will be in homage to the greatest sci-fi televison series)

Prost!

Boobs and Wine....

Boobs and Wine?! What kind of blog post title do you call that? I call that, truth in writing. And truth be told, I like both items. A lot. A WHOLE lot! Okay, enough personal information. As you know I am currently trying to soak up as much as I can about wine. (both in the reading, creating and tasting of..) And one book I am at this point fascinated by is the Windows On The World Complete Wine Course by Kevin Zraly. I am currently reading about Champagne. Not the champagne that is made in America or else where, but about real champagne from Champagne, France. It has quite an interesting history, but one of the most interesting bits of history is the story of how the vessel we drink champagne from was developed. (so to speak)

Most people drink champagne from the traditional shallow, wide rimmed plastic glass that comes in two parts. Ever wonder why we drink it from those shaped glasses? Well, I shall tell you. (I am paraphrasing from the Zraly book here...)

This coupe design apparently dates back to Greek mythology (or history, depending on your opinion). The footed glass that has a shallow cup that widens out towards the rim was said to be molded from ( I love this...) the breast of Helen of Troy. Apparently Greeks believed (much like I do) that the drinking of wine was a sensual experience, so it only fits that the most beautiful woman of their time take part in the design of the drinking vessel. Now say what you will about Helen of Troy, but I gather from this information that Helen was a card carrying member of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee.

Jump ahead a number of centuries and onto the stage of champagne drinking comes none other than Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France. She had it in mind that the time had come to "re-design" the traditonal shape of the champagne glass. And, yes, you guessed it, she had one molded to her own breast, and viola! We have much deeper glass that we sip our wine from. Apparently she was slightly more developed than the legendary Helen of Troy.

That being said, I shall look upon the drinking of wine with a new fondness and respect (and eagerness!) and say a word of thanks to those so dedicated to the enjoyment of drinking it that they used their own beauty to enhance the experience!

It must be said though, that the best glasses to drink champagne from are the tall flute or the tulip shaped glass. These shapes keep the champagne from losing the bubbles too quickly and enhance the smell and aroma of the drink.

A toast! To wine! And boobs!

Later!

Latest News on an old killer...

As many of you may or may not know, I have a keen interest in History, especially the time period of the 14th Century. You cannot study the 14th Century without at some point encountering the Black Death. Even today, the epidemic that killed close to a third of the population of Europe is interesting to many who study history, medicine, and diseases. In a recent news story from Yahoo News I found this. (below) Now I have more info that I can bore people with when giving historical demos! (not that I bore people, because if I did, no one would ask me back again!) Here is the full story...

Later!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Black Death that decimated populations in Europe and elsewhere during the middle of the 14th century may not have been a blindly indiscriminate killer, as some experts have believed. An analysis of 490 skeletons from a London cemetery for Black Death victims demonstrated that the infection did not affect everyone equally, two U.S. scientists said on Monday.
While many perfectly healthy people certainly were cut down, those already in poor health prior to the arrival of the plague were more likely to have perished, they found.
"A lot of people have assumed that the Black Death killed indiscriminately, just because it had such massive mortality," anthropologist Sharon DeWitte of the University at Albany in New York, said in a telephone interview.
People already in poor health often are more vulnerable in epidemics. "But there's been a tradition of thinking that the Black Death was this unique case where no one was safe and if you were exposed to the disease that was it. You had three to five days, and then you were dead," DeWitte said.
The plague epidemic of 1347 to 1351 was one of the deadliest recorded in human history, killing about 75 million people, according to some estimates, including more than a third of Europe's population.
DeWitte analyzed skeletons unearthed from the East Smithfield cemetery in London, dug especially for plague victims and excavated in the 1980s, for bone and teeth abnormalities that would show that people had health problems before they died of plague.
She found such abnormalities in many skeletons, suggesting these people had experienced malnutrition, iron deficiencies and infections well before succumbing to the Black Death.
The proportion of people with such signs of frailty in the cemetery, compared to those who appeared to have been of robust health before the epidemic, indicated that the infection was somewhat selective in who it killed, DeWitte and Pennsylvania State University anthropologist James Wood reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Some experts have thought the Black Death -- named after the black spots the bubonic form of the plague caused on the skin -- killed indiscriminately regardless of age, sex or level of health because it was so virulent and the European population so immunologically unprepared, DeWitte and Wood wrote.
"The Black Death was highly virulent and undoubtedly killed many otherwise healthy people who would have been unlikely to die under normal-mortality conditions," they wrote. But people already in poor health were more likely to die, they wrote.
Many scientists think the plague was caused by Yersinia pestis, a bacterial disease spread by fleas from rats. It still kills between 100 and 200 people a year.
The Black Death pandemic thought to have begun in Asia, then spread into the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
"On average, it killed between 30 to 50 percent of affected populations. But we know that there were some areas where mortality was even higher. So there would have been villages that were completely wiped out," DeWitte said.
Other experts now think the Black Death may have been caused not by bubonic plague but by a viral hemorrhagic fever, similar to the disease caused by the Ebola or dengue viruses.
(Editing by Maggie Fox and Cynthia Osterman)

Exploring the Spirit...

Recently the Pastor of my church and I have embarked upon a new adventure... one that involved deliberate and intensive research in to the spirit... spirit of alcohol that is. Yes, we have begun to brew/vint/ferment wine! It was something that I was interested back in my college days when I was involved in the Society for Creative Anachronism and was involved in the brewing of beer, wine and mead. It was not for the purpose of having a cheap source of alcohol, as I do not drink much, but rather for the love of learning and experimenting with something could be made and then shared. I mentioned this to him in passing and it just so happened that we were both interested in doing this so we have invested a bit in the equipment and supplies and currently have a Merlot and Liebfraumilch in the primary and secondary fermenters. We are very close to delivering our first "children" and finding them good homes. (Bottling and sharing them) It will be at least a month before they are truly ready to drink, but we will have to do a taste test to see if we have succeeded in our efforts. I will let you know how things are progressing. The working name for our winery is "Red Shirt Winery. Home of the Live Long and Prosper Wines." (Yeah, both he and I are Star Trek fans...)

I have always liked wine and am endeavoring to increase my knowledge of not just wine making but understanding the different wines and what is a good or a not so good wine. I can highly recommend the book by Kevin Zraly, Windows on the World: Complete Wine Course, 2008 edition. It is fun book to read, packed with information, and probably the best handbook on learning how to read wine, pick wine and taste or enjoy wine. If you like wine, then get this book.

Remember this one thing though about wine. A good wine is any wine that you like or fits your needs. What might be trash to someone else, might be just what you are looking for.

Prost!

What I wished I had said...

When a member of our Boy Scout troop died in a drowning accident, I talked to the boys in our troop about life and what to do with it. I tried to give them my thoughts, but it did not come out very well. Here is what I wished I had said.

When you wake up in the morning, you do not expect that you will be dead before the afternoon arrives, but yet sometimes, bad things happen, and death does come. So live your life like there may be no tomorrow. Life should be treated like money; it should be spent and not saved. Spend your life well and not frivolously or on waste full things. Use it to its fullest amount. Don't save it hoping to wait for something great to come along. Go out and try new things that excite you. Do things that scare you! Ask the prettiest girl in the room to dance with you... you never know what might happen. Eat dessert first! Get out of your comfort zone and risk a little. Don't be unwise with your life, because like money, spending your life unwisely or in stupid, or dangerous ways, only wastes it. As a young person, you are given this feeling of immortality. Let that feeling enbolden you to try new and exciting things, but don't forget that you are NOT immortal. But not living life to its fullest and best is just as good as being dead.



Later!

Whew! It has been a rough start to 2008!

Yep, the title pretty much sums it up! 2008 has been a very rough one so far for me and members of my family. It actually began before Christmas, with my dad getting ill and going to the hospital for weakness and internal bleeding. Just before that he fell while getting a dialysis treatment and although he got lucky and didn't break anything, he was quite sore and bed ridden for a number of days. Then right around New Years, he goes back and ends up in the hospital over the New Years Holiday. Again, nothing was found to be wrong, even though we family members knew it was more possible bleeding in his gut. No real action was taken by the doctors at this time, so he went home with nothing new for treatment for his ailments. Then, on the 8th of Jan, our area was socked with a huge amount of rainfall, flooding many areas that normally do not flood. We did get some water in our basement, but it was nothing compared to what others had. The towns of Watseka and Pontiac looked much like scenes from Hurricane Katrina. Check out this link for an aireal view of the flooding in Watseka. http://www.timesrepublic.info/articles/2008/01/16/local_video/video999.txt Worst of all, one of the Boy Scout Leaders in my troop was driving to work in the early morning and was taken off the road by the storm waters, and due to a number of reasons, one of which was an irrational fear of water, he was drowned in his truck. He was only 24 years old, and a great guy. It was a huge shock to our little community. Our troop paid him honor with parade guards during his funeral and we hope to put up a memorial for him at out Scout hut. He was way too young to be lost like that. And to think that he died from the one thing that scared him the most...

And then on the 13th, after visiting my father to see how he was, it was discovered that he was actually worse off that we all thought. Many of us felt that he was on his last legs. Around midnight that day, he complained of all over pain and was rushed to the hospital. After what was truly touch and go for about two days, we discovered that he had lost large amounts of blood due to internal bleeding and that caused a heart attack. (first one I can recall in my family) Again,we all thought these were his last days on earth. It was really a tough time for all of us. My sister and I have not talked so much on the phone to one another ever! We were constantly getting updates on what was happening. Many people were hoping for the best and saying their prayers and it must have worked, because, to our disbelief, our dad was released from the hospital a mere 4 days after all this. My dad says he was half dead. I disagree. I think he was 3/4 dead. To think that he would be home so soon was incredible! It is a good and happy ending to a long story, and I hope that the rest of the year will not be so dramatic!

Later!

a short for what it's worth...

Heard on a recent documentary about the history of video games:

Girls play with dolls. Boys don't play with dolls, they play with Action Figures. Adults don't play with action figures or dolls, they play with Avatars.

Whether you play massive online multiplayer games like World or Warcraft, or Second Life, I guess that we never stopped playing with our toys. It is only a progression of time and maturity that changes the kind of doll or action figure we play with.


and did you know, that in Second Life, there is a virtual $2.7 million dollars used in transactions per month? It is only a short time before this becomes real money.

VTX Riders Creed

I found this on a recent visit to a VTX owners website. It is the riders creed for VTX Riders. Some of it is a bit silly, but deep down it strikes true and I would have to say that it is pretty much a good creed. (a bit long though!) (( and for those who don't know, "X" stands for the VTX bike, not "insert bike name here", although I suppose that could work too!))

From the VTX Riders website:

Rider’s Credo... (UPDATED Version)

I ride purely, and only, because it is fun and offers me the opportunity to meet others of like mind.

I ride because I enjoy the freedom I feel from being exposed to the elements, and the vulnerability to the danger that is intrinsic to riding.

I do not ride because it is fashionable to do so.

I ride my X, not wear it. My X is not a symbol of status. It exists simply for me, and my pleasure.

My X is not a toy. It is an extension of my personality.

I strive to learn what I can about the inner-workings of my X, from the most basic to the most complex, so that I may be able to help others who may not have the mechanical ability to understand the complexity of the X.

I strive to constantly better my skill of control over my X. I will learn its limits, and use my skill to become one with my X, so that we may keep each other alive. Working together in harmony, we will become a respected team.

I do not fear death. My fear is what a premature death due to unsafe riding habits would do to my family. I will ride safely in order to protect them from the negative impact.

I do not ride to gain attention, respect, or fear from those that do NOT ride, nor do I wish to intimidate or annoy them. For those that do not know me, all I wish from them is that they take the opportunity to get to know me. For those that desire to know me, I will share with them the truth of myself.

I will never be the aggressor on the highway.

I will show respect to other riders more experienced or knowledgeable than I am. I will learn from them all I can.

I will not show disrespect to other riders less experienced or knowledgeable than I am. I will teach them what I can. It will be my task to mentor new riders into the lifestyle of the rider, so that a respect for those who ride may be gained from everyone I meet. I shall instruct them, as I have been instructed by those before me.

I will not judge other riders on their choice of machine, their appearance, or their profession. I will judge them only on their conduct as riders and human beings.

I will stand ready to help any other rider that truly needs my help. I will never ask another rider to do for me what I can do for myself.

I ride because I love freedom, independence, and the movement of the ground beneath me.

But most of all, I ride to better understand myself, my machine, the lands in which I ride, and to seek out and know other riders like myself.

-Author Unknown-

A Well Regulated Militia

I am not sure why all of a sudden this topic has become more and more prevalent in my mind, but with the recent shooting of innocents by loopy brained idiots who were pretty much wastes of space, I suppose that more gun control nut jobs are gonna start screaming about stricter gun laws. And as most of you know from reading this blog, I am a big advocate of more guns for those who are allowed to have them. (NOTE: I said those allowed to have them, not EVERYONE!) Anyway, this came across my desk and I thought that this guy made alot of good sense. His name is Bruce Kauffmann and he is published in the newspapers, usually in the commentary section. His column is "History Lessons" and it is quite good. The link to the article, which I will include in it's entirety, is at http://concealed.wordpress.com/2007/12/13/%E2%80%A2-kauffmanns-history-lesson/.

I provide the link as it has a bunch of other 2nd amendment thoughts and links that you might use if you so wish to investigate the matter further.

Anyhow, I agree with what Kauffmann has to say and only wish I could have said it first, but then I am not a columnist, nor much of a writer. So I let others say if for me and then pass it along to you. Here is the column.

Bruce’s History Lessons: The oh so controversial second amendment

By Bruce Kauffmann Special to the Tribune-Star When the Bill of Rights was ratified this week (Dec. 15) in 1791, the Founders never dreamed that centuries later the Second Amendment would become so controversial. To them, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,” was fairly straightforward language.
How wrong they were, as evidenced by the Supreme Court’s recent decision to rule on whether Washington, D.C.’s strict firearms law violates the Constitution, “a decision,” The Washington Post wrote, “that will raise the politically and culturally divisive issue of gun control just in time for the 2008 elections.”
The main controversy is over the phrase “A well regulated militia,” and its relationship to the statement “the people’s right to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Gun-control advocates believe this language means that if you don’t belong to a “regulated militia” your right to own a gun can be “infringed.”
Gun-rights advocates counter by noting that the amendment does not grant a right; it recognizes a right already granted. The amendment does not say, “The people have the right to keep and bear arms.”
It says, “the (already established) right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” And they have a point. As even the Supreme Court has acknowledged, the right to own firearms precedes the Bill of Rights.
Gun advocates also note that because the amendment gives the right to bear arms to the “people,” not the states, claiming that this right is dependent on anything the states do or don’t do — including forming militias — is ludicrous. After all, the Bill of Rights mentions no specific rights that the states possess, but several the people do.
Two additional points: In 1791, most state militias did not give guns to militiamen when militias were formed. Militiamen brought their guns with them — from home. Indeed, the amendment says they can “keep” their firearms, not merely “bear” them during military service.
Finally, (my hero) James Madison’s original Second Amendment language was as follows: “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country.”
Written that way, he is saying that if the people don’t have the right to arms, there can’t be a militia. That Congress reversed the order does not change Madison’s intent.
Granted, all constitutional rights, including free speech and gun ownership, are subject to reasonable restrictions — you can’t yell “Fire” in a crowded theater, and felons can’t possess firearms. But the general right to own firearms is constitutionally protected. We will see what the Supreme Court thinks.

Bruce Kauffmann’s e-mail address is bruce@historylessons.net

Snippets from Maxim

Maxim Magazine, the magazine for men is by far the coolest magazine I have seen in a long time. It is full of cool gadgets, interesting information, advice, jokes, reviews of all the latest and greatest and well, good looking women. Playboy it is not! And I know this sound so cliche, but I do read it for the articles! And to prove it, here are some really funny and cool little bit of information gleened from its December 2007 pages!

A silver lining to global warming. pg. 44
All that melted glacier has to go somewhere, and what better place that to your liver! Brewmeisters in Greenland are using H2O that's been frozen in the island's massive icecap for 2,000 years to make dark and pale ales they claim are fantastically polluntant-free. Farewell, mercury-infused hops. It was delicious while it lasted.

Bacon Porn: The sexiest sentence ever written. pg. 52
"Who, under any circumstances, is not rendered almost helpless by the tantalizing sound of bacon sizzling slowly in a skillet, by the taunting backwoods aroma that permeates the air, by the luscious textures of crisp fat and toothsome lean meat, and by the explosion of mingled salty and smoky and sweet flavors that virtually explode in the mouth?" - from The Bacon Cookbook, by James Villas.

The Great Weird of China: pg 116
Freestyle Grave Robbing: The black market for female corpses is resurgent in China. Recently deceased or "wet" women fetch up to $5,300 from parents who don't want their dead sons to be bachelors in the afterlife. Earlier this year, a grave robber confessed to murdering six women. Killing, he told police, was much easier than digging bodies out of the ground.

Lethal Injection Marathon: While America's courts wrestle with lethal in jection, China has put it on wheels. At least 40 "Death Cars" - vans that bring mobile lethal injection to remote communities - help China build on its 2006 world-record exectution tally of 1,010.

And the best, or rather, the worst snippet of them all: A reveiw of a perfume to be released on the world in December: pg 36

Can you smell the sex in the air? You can if you want to. VULVA Original is a "beguilling vaginal scent" that, according to its makers, "intensifies erotic fantasies" for men who sniff it. We took a whiff and it vividly transported us to a sexual fantasy of ours: the one where we're doing it inside a dumpster behind the Red Lobster.


There you have it. Useless info from a pretty cool magazine. And if you think Maxim is just for the guys, I can tell you that the person who introduced it to me was a girl who subscribes to it!


Later!

Do you play video games with your kid?

Some of you may have come across the study that says that 43 % of parents never play video games with there kids. (I am not one of them!) I enjoy playing video games with my kids and their friends. Hell, I am even trying to figure out what is the best buy for the new XBOX as a Christmas gift for them I am not the best player but I can hold my own. However, I do agree with one of the columnists from the Decatur Herald and Review when he states that most adults don't like playing with the kids because they are humiliating them,(see full article below) and I can understand that completely. My kids do not spend all their time playing XBOX, but far more time than I ever do and their skill at the games shows. My son can walk up to my character in Halo and kill me with one shot or hit with the butt of a gun, but I can send endless round of bullets at him and only take him down maybe 4 times out of 10. I know he is not cheating but it sure feels like something is wrong! Even my daughter is getting better than me! For a while, I felt assured that as long as she was on the other team, there was someone I could beat or at the very least, come out even with. It did not take long for her figure out it was a great deal of fun to whoop Dad's ass in a shoot'em up game! After that, I was all by myself.

Most of the reason I don't get to play the video games much is because of lack of free time, the XBOX being attached to the main TV of the house, and usually, there is little room for me when the kids all get together to play. But that is ok. I will find the time and play some video games with my kids, because I actually enjoy the experience and time with my kids is time with my kids. (Although there are times when I wish there was some time without them too!)

My fall back is that we play alot of board and card games and in those games, I can more than hold my own against them. These games require real brainwork and strategy and not just finger-eye coordination! Give me a game of Memoir '44 or RISK or something else that requires forethought and we'll see who is kicking butt and taking names!

Game On!

Later!

From the Herald and Reveiw Newspaper, 11/07

The Real Reason Adults Don't Play Video Games:

There was a time when I thought it was fun to play video games with my son, who is now 16. When Eric was five, we inherited an old Nintendo console that featured one-dimensional games. The older games had paths that led you places and you had few decisions to make outside of whether to go forward or in reverse. The games are addictive. I spent one day playing Super Mario Bros. 2 for about seven hours before finally figuring out how to kill Wart, the monster at the end.

When I played "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out," I could get through everyone until I got to Mike who flattened me with about three punches. It was then I found out yelling at games and complaining about the unfairness of hitting Iron Mike with a flurry of punches that did virtually no damage was at least therapeutic. That was the heyday of my video game playing. Eric graduated to Nintendo 64 and the end of my effective playing life was near. He easily beat me at just about every game except the driving games - years of actual behind-the-wheel experience finally paid off. I bring this up now because of a survey conducted by Associated Press-AOL Games that found 43 percent of people whose children play video or computer games never play along with them. This result means that 57 percent of them do play along.

The attitudes run the gamut. One man quoted in the AP story said he never plays video games. "It's just such a waste of time," said Jesse Lackman, 47, of Center, N.D. "I tell him, 'Do something that has some lasting value.'" Then there is stay-at-home dad Marvin Paup, 33, of Golden Valley, Ariz., who told AP he plays 30 hours a week with his son and dozens more on his own. Their current favorite is "Halo 3," a shooter game played online by thousands of players at a time.

Place me closer to Mr. Lackman than Mr. Paup. While I don't believe video games are a total waste of time, I can't fathom doing anything more than 30 hours a week other than work and sleep. Plus, I don't play video games much now because I am a poor loser. Eric and a couple of friends coerced me into playing some sort of James Bond 007 game a couple of years ago. It didn't take me long to figure out I wasn't playing the game, I was the object of the game. They used me as bait. I would peek around the corner and my character would get shot in the leg or arm - nothing fatal, just enough to drain some of my energy. Finally, I just said, "Kill me and put me out of my misery. Quit toying with me."

Now, I will occasionally play "Guitar Hero" with Eric, partly because I know many of the songs. While I am musically inept, I am not so inept that I can't at least play along in an easier mode. Inspired by a recent episode of "South Park," I found I'm quite good playing "Guitar Hero" acoustically.But don't let the survey fool you. Adults quit playing video games with their kids because they are tired of being humiliated by a kid. And if an adult tells you they don't play for a different reason, don't believe them. They're lying.

Managing Editor Dave Dawson's video game skills have eroded to the point he would have trouble defeating Bald Bull in "Punch-Out." He can be reached at ddawson@herald-review.com or 421-7980.

Finally, A role playing game that makes you shoot milk out of your nose!

I recently discovered a new Role Playing Game (taken pretty much tongue in cheek) called "Kobolds ate my Baby!" I have included the review from RPG. Net so that you can check it ouf for yourself if you are inclined to such sorts of games. I for one, would like to chekc this out. Maybe at a convention or if I get an extra $20 or so, I might just buy it and try it myself!

Check out the review at http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/13/13459.phtml

Game on!

Later!

Gimme a break... well said!

OK, I thought Australia was a pretty level headed country and then I go and read this...(see the Yahoo News Story below) Since when has the jolly "HO HO HO" of Santa ever sugested that he is being offensive to women. It is not like he is standing around pointing at women in the mall and screaming "HO!" "HO!" "HO!" "And there's another one! HO!"

Only in this day and age of knee jerk liberals and people who want to regulate us into politically correct hell can something like this happen. Rather instead, blame the idiots who cannot speak correctly enough to say a proper word like "whore" but instead say "ho". Blame it on poor education, lack of culture, or shear stupidity.

The gal in the news article said it best... "Gimme a break!"

Later!

SYDNEY (AFP) - Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday. Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported.
One disgruntled Santa told the newspaper a recruitment firm warned him not to use "ho ho ho" because it could frighten children and was too close to "ho", a US slang term for prostitute.
"Gimme a break," said Julie Gale, who runs the campaign against sexualising children called Kids Free 2B Kids.
"We are talking about little kids who do not understand that "ho, ho, ho" has any other connotation and nor should they," she told the Telegraph.
"Leave Santa alone."
A local spokesman for the US-based Westaff recruitment firm said it was "misleading" to say the company had banned Santa's traditional greeting and it was being left up to the discretion of the individual Santa himself.

Burning down the house... movie house that is.

Yesterday afternoon, at around 10 am, one of the main historical landmarks in my hometown of Paxton, burnt to the ground. While the theater was not in operation at the time, there were three families living in apartments upstairs and a bookstore located directly next to the theater, all of which were lost. In addition, the Senior Center, located next door took heavy water and smoke damage and some fire damage. While not a complete loss, it will probably be enough to kill off the Senior Center which had trouble staying afloat. A hit like this most likely will put it under. All that remains now is a charred mess in the middle of town. The Majestic Theater, our most recognizable landmark, next to the water tower (seen in photos #2 and #5) and the clock tower, (photos #2 and #3) is now gone, most likely to never be replaced, and if replaced, it will be with a nuch different structure, most likely lacking that style and appeal found only in turn of the century theaters. It will not be the same anymore, walking in downtown Paxton. Our view will be so different from what we have come to expect and enjoy. In many ways, yet on a smaller scale of course, it was like the feelings we had when we saw that the Twin Towers were no longer part of our mental images. You come to expect to see certain things on a regular basis, and when they are gone, you realize just how much a part they are of your mental map of your town or city. At least no one was hurt and insurance will cover everything and it could have be so much worse that it was, but something very special was lost in Paxton, and I doubt if it will ever return. Later.

Only in Germany!

While bratwursts are certainly not one of the most perfect foods in the world, it is one of the more tasty in my opinion! Found this on the Yahoo new services. Now if only they would release the recipe!


Historian finds oldest recipe for bratwurst:

Thu Nov 1, 12:06 PM ET

A hobby historian has discovered the oldest known recipe for German sausage, a list of ingredients for Thuringian bratwurst nearly 600 years old.
According to the 1432 guidelines, Thuringian sausage makers had to use only the purest, unspoiled meat and were threatened with a fine of 24 pfennigs -- a day's wages -- if they did not, a spokesman for the German Bratwurst Museum said Wednesday.
Medieval town markets in Germany had committees charged with monitoring the quality of produce. Thuringian bratwursts, which are made of beef and pork, are symbols of Germany's cultural heritage and ubiquitous snacks at football matches.
Historian Hubert Erzmann, 75, found the ancient recipe, inscribed with pen and ink in a heavy tome of parchment, earlier this year while doing research in an archive in the eastern town of Weimar, museum spokesman Thomas Maeuer said.
"The discovery shows that there were already consumer protection laws in the Middle Ages," he said.
The instructions go on display Thursday in the Bratwurst Museum near the eastern city of Erfurt, Thuringia's capital.