Entries tagged with sca

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: teh Ranch
Current Music: Matsukaze (shakuhachi)

Entry tags:

Class Is In Session

Yesterday after taking care of Teh Ranch and over Houdini, Smudge, and Squrrl's objections, I hied on down the road to do something I've not done in years. I taught a class at an official SCA event.

The opportunity came with Herselfs invitation. She's still very active in SCA, where I'm not and haven't been for over a decade. Her shire, Amurgorod, hosts an event every fall called 'Road to War'. The past two years were done with a Japanese theme, and with fairly good attendance (though down a bit this year). Last year the theme drew so much commentary that they decided to do so again this year, and expand somewhat on the offerings, hence the invitation to myself.

Good to know people with an in, I suppose.

At any rate, I suppose I know a wee bit about Japanese Clothing, even if what studies I did are now around 20 years out of date. So I caught up a bit on an old pamphlet I started right about those 20 years ago, and put aside as of '92. That's when I shifted my time expenses from SCA to AORN. Caught up a bit on that pamphlet on how to sew kimono (popular and generally accepted name, though the word does literally mean robe or clothing or things to wear) and hakama (baggy trousers for those who don't recognise the word). Printed up some copies, tossed those into the car. Loaded up the clothing I'd made back in the day as well as some Herself made for herself and a couple pieces I made for her. She added a few examples of Made In Japan clothing (not historical period for SCA, all probably made in the 20th Century). Plus a few accessories, and some added by another friend present.

Oh, and a plastic storage crate of fabric chosen some time ago to make Japanese Clothing for the SCA. To show as examples.

Overall, a good class.

ofuroyama accompanied me as Teaching Assistant. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I did bring him along deliberately, as there is a project for some items he needs, as well as Fat Fred. First step in that process is taking measurements, and taking Ofuro's measurements is as good a place as any to demonstrate which measurements need to be taken to make a kimono. Shoulder width, chest, waist, length of arm (shoulder to wrist), and height i.e. shoulder to ankle. With those measurements made, it is time now to start working up the smaller pattern and making some clothing.

I've made small people Japanese clothing before, so this shouldn't be much different.

And I got a photo of

ofuroyama as my Teaching Assistant. Look for it later; just getting up now haven't finished coffee.

So on the drive home I was thinking about some of the reasons I stopped playing SCA. The biggest really was time available, what with dedicating more time to my professional association. However, when one thinks about it if one enjoys something enough (and I did enjoy playing SCA for a goodly length of time), then one will make the time for it regardless. Thus, one can not discount that it had stopped being a great deal of fun for me, making it easy to say hey, other things, only so much time.

How evil is it, then (and this may only be apparent to those of you who are somewhat familiar with Japanese culture and theatre), that on the drive home I started thinking about organising something...

Making or acquiring Japanese clothing for a group of the Ottarz, taking them to an SCA Event, accompanied by Myself and an appropriate number of Others, all of whom would be wearing the midnight blue-black unadorned kimono and hakama of Bunraku theatre...

The Ottarz Mob storms the Knowne Worlde and the Current Middle Ages.

Current Mood: thoughtful

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Tempus Fugit

In Anno Societie XII 'Murieann Deora-de, called Strider, founded the Shire of Starhaven'... 'alas, poor Yorrick...' I knew her well. It's been quite some time since I paid much attention to specific dating regarding the Society for Creative Anachronism. Ran across this bit skimming through Herself's Tailwinds (the Trimaris newsletter) this morning. It's now A.S. XXXXII, and it's been 30 years since Strider founded Starhaven.

People have been born to parents who played in the Current Middle Ages, and now are playing themselves with children of their own.

The mind boggles.

Today I set off for points north. Thanks to those who've offered comments and support in response to my cryptic postings. It is not something needing venting, it is simply part of life. It is simply a deal with it kind of thing.

Current Mood: busy
Current Location: teh Ranch
Current Music: Bandsaw

Entry tags:

BossStaysHomeDays (tm) Houdini

Morning rounds made. Actually, getting ready to go out for morning rounds, not quite dressed yet, and the Bros sound off. All dogs looking to the south east... towards where their mother is on a line because otherwise she's off to go see the love of her life, Michael. Michael is also the Bro's sire. Michael is also here, and he and Mudge are rather actively discussing the creation of more puppies.

Separate the star-struck lovers, call neighbor Miz Peggy to come pick up Michael. Phone rings before can dial same, it's Miz Peggy, 'Michael is likely on his way there, and I'm following.' Yes, well, such is indeed the case.

Right then, and once that's settled, rounds. Then Houdini and I load up in Forrest NissanPickup and head to Archer for feed. After laying in stocks for the feeder hogs (so called 'cause they're gonna feed her, eh?) and goats, lunch for meself. Then measurements of pavilion frame, break it down, load it up and off to S & K's place, primarily to use the power metalsaw in S's shop but also to visit with friends B for Bron and M. Bron is borrowing S's scaffolding to construct an extension on his and R's house. Are you confused about the tool lending yet?

M is helping Bron transport the scaffolding and also picking up his commission from S, a fold-welded (commonly called Damascus which is a mild misnomer) kukri. It's a big kukri, well balanced and truly a gorgeous piece of smithing. M is a freighter captain, who for various reasons (not the least of them being that piracy is still fairly rampant in Malasia and often his route takes him there) employs some Ghurka as security troops aboard his vessel. There is much more to the story than this, which is basically he treats them with much respect and on a couple of occasions has re-equipped them with locally made kukri after the Ghurka's were disarmed to serve as security aboard an Indian ship. (WTF, disarm the security?). He's frequently dealing with the same fellows. They've presented him with a ceremonial kukri; M wants to rock their boats with this commission piece.

Then cutting down some antler for pavilion buttons (tie-downs) and, once they are all cut, some coat buttons, leaving long enough pieces for S to use for fold-welded folding knives. So very cool!

Back to the Ranch, where the pavilion is set up to check all sizing, and the new sidewalls hung. It is looking quite servicable for the upcoming trip.

Soon time for evening rounds, feeding of the Bros, then feeding of the people. Not sure what we're having tonight. I just know it's going to be tasty.

Current Mood: Somewhat productive, I guess
Current Location: teh Ranch
Current Music: Buffalo Springfield: For What It's Worth

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Week End, or BossStaysHomeDays (tm Houdini)

Today's been more of a stay home day than yesterday was. Yesterday we loaded up some things in Forrest NissanPickup and trundled over to Horse Arena for a shire get-together. Herself commited to teaching a couple of classes, in the end only one of those got taught but she also passed on some info related to other items.

The class she taught was beginning mead-brewing, so one of the things we toted with us was her glass 5 gallon carboy, in the cab, on the seat between us. Now, if you've ever ridden in a Nissan pickup, even one with a bench seat as Forrest does rather than bucket seats, you'll know they aren't really designed for three people in the cab. And that carboy occupies about as much territory as a person, at least from the seat up. Shifting was interesting.

But, hey, mead! Well, in about four months. At the class she explained the importance of starting with really clean equipment, clarifying your honey (if necessary, the batch she used was pretty well clarified already but we did it again for the class), starting the yeast mat, then combining it all. We only poured the honey (20 pounds / 10 Kg worth, about 2 - 2.5 gal / 9/5 litres) and some water into the carboy for the class. Call it about 3 gal/10 litres of volume in there. That was enough, in terms of re-loading carboy into the cab.

Ate dinner, came home, found Sargent Smudge BorderCollieBro in with the maternity pen goats, all of them safely herded into a bunch in the middle of the pen. No one hurt, and we may of found some tracks we don't recognise between maternity pen and the hog pen. Got everything settled out, unpacked the minimum i.e. the carboy and yeast mat to the house, added about half the remaining volume of water then the yeast mat, then topped it off at that 5 gallon/ 19 litre mark. The yeastie beasties are contentedly doing their thing now, bubbling away and forcing gas out through the brewing water-lock.

Today it's been laundry, and in between laundry backing up some files on an old laptop which Herself's brother gave her a couple years back, when she started dealing with their mother's estate. It's not quite as old as Venerable Laptop of mine, has a smaller hard drive, and both of them the on-board batteries are toast. However, she wasnts a machine she can take with her to Gulf Wars, since she's going to be doing the Merchant Thing there and wants to give a shot at keeping sales and inventory current on-site.

Thus, first step backup. Which, since this old beast of a machine is running Win 98 with service packs, is interesting. It does not recognise USB drives of any sort (RAM stick, CD Burner, or external HD), does not have an internal CD burner, does have a 3.5" floppy (FLOPPY!?). Fortunately there aren't many data files, and no software we're worried about. I've made copies of most of the data, we've verified that the estate-related Quicken files are already backed up, and now I'm installing an upgrade to Win2K. Upgrade rather than hard-drive reformat because I'll need some hardware drivers to keep things functional, and that means hauling the beast into Hospital or at least determining what drivers and downloading them at Hospital.

Hauling it in is more likely, because Herself tells me the site for Gulf Wars has wireless Internet and she's going to want that. I guess that means getting another anti-virus installation as well, even though this beast won't be cruising the 'Net once it gets back.

First thing to determine, though, is if it will find external USB drives after the upgrade. Then I'll see about backup for the rest of the data files (why yes, I'm paranoid, why do you ask), plus ensure that the external drive works anyway because it's a dinky 4 Gb internal hard drive and I'm sending along a 40 Gb external HD, USB powered, for her data storage.

All this in between doing laundry. Or is it the other way around, doing all this laundry and in between doing this? Oh well, doesn't much matter.

Current Mood: relaxed
Current Location: teh Ranch

Entry tags:

(no subject)

It's been a few years since I've attended a St. Benet's Feast; even longer since I've been 'active' in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism for those who don't recognise the acronym). The last time to a St. Benet's in fact, is like three, maybe four years back. Most probably three, as it resulted later in the year in a wonderful studio session with

alienorade and

ichthyus and contrasting sari.

( So, Why St Benet's if I'm No Longer SCA? )

Following the gift exchange, we started clearing the hall and straightening up. We got back to the Ranch just before midnight.

Current Mood: thankful
Current Location: Ranch

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Weather & Such

Called out to Hospital yesterday. Was on a fairly short leash to the white porcelan seat. Between interludes, helped Herself to repair a quintain; for those unfamiliar with the term, it's a training tool for medieval/rennaisance horse combat. Swinging arm at the top of a post, rider passes and strikes a target, if not done correctly the back side of the arm comes around and thwacks the rider. It was damaged in practice, and now it's much better thank you.

Herself didn't head out right off after that was fixed, though, as there were severe weather alerts, and tornado watches and warnings on the area. She left about 15:00, and still caught a lot of bad weather. The site for the event is only about two hours (normal) north of us, and she didn't get there until near 19:00. Not staying on site; she and freinds reserved a small block of rooms at a local motel.

So I've got Ranch Watch for the weekend. About to head out to see if any goat babies showed up in the storm last night. Houdini is nudging very insistantly that it's time to go out.

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Sakura, Sakura

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Frozen Squirrels. In June.

Yes, that's right. I said Frozen Squirrels. In North Central Baja Jorja, I said Frozen Squirrels.

In June.

But the frozen squirrels weren't in June. I just said that in June. And all because of a wonderful fun entry over in

wicked_wish's LJ Land, here at this very spot talking about mummified squirrels in Seattle. In June.

Which is what made me think about Frozen Squirrels. Not Frozen Squrrl, who is one of my Border Collies. Though I think he would appreciate Frozen Squirrels.

Once upon a galaxy far, far away, Oh My Children, I would wander through a place called the Knowne Worlde, and hie myself from another place called the Barony of An Crosaire. This is located in the Kingdom of Trimaris, which is of course the SCA name for Baja Jorja.

Now, the true anniversary date for the founding of the Shire (and later, the elevation to Baronial status) of An Crosaire (which means Crossroads in Gaelic, if you're interested. It still means Crossroads in Gaelic if you're not interested, but if you're not we won't be talking about that.) is to be found in the month of February. In fact, if memory serves, the original date was indeed St. Valentines Day, February 14. And so of course the name for the event had to be the St. Valentines Massacre.

Powers that be have since granted this date to some other upstart group, totally dissing any History which a Barony might command, and pretty much exhibiting the kind of attitude that I've come to believe currently exists in Trimaris, which is why I so very rarely play in the Knowne Worlde anymore. So now An Crosaire celebrates the St. Valentines Massacre in like April or May or some such. Be that as it may, we are talking about the original, the only, February St. Val's Events.

We used to use a private (public, but privately owned and operated) campground over past Trenton called Otter Springs. (There's those Otters again...) And while this is Baja Jorja, I gently remind you, Oh My Children, that it is North Central Baja Jorja. We do get cold here, cold enough to freeze still water, cold enough to keep still water frozen for a week sometimes. Which may seem as nothing to folk in Alaska, or Siberia, or Nebraska. Much less Minnesota. But it's pretty cold for those that are born and bred to the location, and that includes the squirrels.

Now there were a few St. Vals where it remained warm, to whit the mercury did not drop below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. A few. Pretty much the wise planned on bringing things like goose down sleeping bags, and fur-lined cloaks, and boots that would accept extra socks, and definitely hats. Now, my personna, Tsuji, being a Japanese from the late 16th Century and therefor familiar with the Portuguese Nambam, even Tsuji was known to bring a wonderful full circle full length hooded cloak, which worked very well for keeping warm because several ladies could share the cloak with him at the same time. BUT, Oh My Children, I digress.

It could not be considered a Successful St. Vals, regardless of what other revelry took place, not allowing who might win the Lyst to be the Baronial Champion, despite whatever vast quantities of alcoholic beverages disapeered down the various and sundry gullets of teh Populace... unless a frozen squirrel fell out of the trees on either, or both, Saturday and Sunday mornings. No Frozen Squirrel, and the event must be deemed a failure. Extra bonus points could be awarded if the Frozen Squirrel fell on someone's head. Double bonus points if more than one Frozen Squirrel fell from the boughs of the Live Oaks and Hollys.

Most definitely no points for no Frozen Squirrels.

There are at least two, possibly three people on my FList who may attest to my veracity, Oh My Children. On my Honour, Frozen Squirrels. In Baja Jorja. In February.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Joni Mitchell: Woodstock

Entry tags:

life,
sca

A Trend?

Yesterday, I wandered down the road with chaosloki and day-tripped the Trimaris 20th Year Celebration. Two S.C.A. events in one year! Oh My. In some ways, things have changed in the Knowne Worlde as represented in this kingdom; in others, not.

( The Life and Times of Tsuji Ryuuzo )

We got back to chaosloki's a shade after midnight, and I rolled into bed a bit after 01:00 after reassuring the Kittens of the Apocalypse and Mamma Munch that all is well with the world.

There are four people on my FList I knew then; two whom I know directly because of the introductions of that old friend, a guy who eventually also stood with me as my Best Man, two whom I met after I ventured into The Knowne Worlde. There's another half dozen people I'm still regularly interacting with who aren't part of the LJ community. I treasure them all for our friendships. Yesterday, I came "out of the woodwork" to catch up, however briefly, with a few of those people and double handful more. Apparently, a couple of them at least read my LJ friends who share that background, and experienced the pleasant surprise that, "You're madshutterbug !"

It helped make my day richer.