Captains Courageous

Another Tourney of the Foxes has come and gone. For those who aren't familiar with it, Foxes is an event that is put on by the folks down in the Shire of Vulpine Reach (Chattanooga, TN) every year about this time. What makes it noteworthy (at least to me) is the team rapier tourney. In the past, this has consisted of three person teams, but this year, they changed it to five person. So, myself and my old teammates, Captains Ysabel and Feador, recruited two new members, Captains Thomas O'Toole and Mikolaj Pilypas (I hope I spelled that right). We dubbed the new team "Captains Courageous". Now, I'm happy to say that we chose very, very well. Everyone fought with great spirit and skill and we landed another victory in the melee tourney. After the official tourney, we got all the Captains together (except for Cap'n Grimm who was marshalling) and did a "Captains against the world" melee. Ended up being 9 of us vs. 15 of them. I died to a very sneaky shot from Jack Marvell (I may be instructing him a little too well), but in the end, we still had two Captains standing. The rest of the day was devoted to pick up fights and socializing (and chocolate fudge cheesecake!). It was a great day! They are few and far between, lately, but so, so awesome when they happen.

Oh, and special thanks to Ursus and Svana for putting us up Friday night. Y'all are the best!

Thing in the Woods

Lessons learned (or reinforced) at Thing in the Woods:

1) Against a highly skilled opponent, even the smallest misstep will cost you the fight.
2) Against a less skilled opponent, in a tourney, do not play around. Kill them quickly and move on.
3) Torrential rain followed by blazing hot sun equals a truly disgusting environment in which to do much of anything.
4) The wanton display of pale, hairy man-belly can be forgiven in the event of #3, but only for short periods.
5) Sometimes, you do get recognized for the good things that you do.
6) When receiving accolades, don't try to be funny. Just keep your mouth shut and accept gracefully.
7) Women are fey and dangerous creatures (no, I will not elaborate).
8) Peach lemonade is among the most vile concoctions dreamed up by Man.
9) Having a screaming headache in the middle of a loud, crowded restaurant tends to make Corbin anti-social.
10) Everything hurts more on the second morning after.

The Mystery of Cuts

As some of you may know, I've been fighting rapier in the SCA for some time now. I've developed a fair amount of skill at it or so I've been told. But now I'm trying something new. You see, SCA rapier very strongly forbids using percussive cuts. We can stab or pull the blade across the target, but never swing in for a "true" cut. Well, now there's this thing called Cut & Thrust, which adds in the element of percussive cuts and I'm having a devil of a time figuring out how to deal with them. According to the fencing masters I study, thrusts are superior to cuts and they go on to explain how that is so, however, something about the dynamics of blocking a series of aggressively thrown cuts eludes me. Painfully so, in fact. Very frustrating. I guess it's back to square one to train myself in this new form. Oh, bother.

Star Stuff

A co-worker mentioned today that we are supposedly all made of dirt. I pointed out that we are technically made of carbon, water and heavy elements cooked up during the process of star formation. This got me thinking. It boggles my mind that the Universe is so wondrous. Think of the billions of years that have passed, all the complex interactions that have occurred, all the incredible physical processes that have led up, slowly, inexorably, to you and me. Our noble pedigree is assured by the very fact that we exist at all. That out of the intricate dance of cosmic chance, the beautiful, dissonant cacophony of Creation, we are the result. It also, then, makes me sad to know how many of us choose to occupy our existence. How we look to the petty, the hateful, the vulgar. I am just as guilty as anyone else, of course. I, too, find myself caught up in the dirty, trivial world we perceive with our limited senses. I admit that it is overwhelming and so very seductive. But, unlike many, I long to rise above it, if only in my mind, and find a sublime elegance, a nobility, that befits our celestial origin. We may be imperfect beings in an imperfect world, but we have the potential, here, now, in this life, to be worthy of our amazing heritage. For we are the stuff of stars...

Father's Day Weekend

I had a pretty interesting Father's Day weekend. Not only was it Father's Day, but my step-son had his 14th birthday, too. Yes, same day. He decided to have some friends over on Friday night to celebrate a little early, though. They mostly played on the Xbox 360 all night. In other news, I finally got the check engine light in my car to go off. Had to replace the EGR valve. Not difficult, really, but the part cost over $100 dollars. Got the vacuum cleaner fixed last week, too. Now we only have a few dozen other issues outstanding. Whoo-hooo! Aside from that, I also got some of my rapier armor adjusted (some old, some new) thanks mostly to my lovely wife. She's awesome! Then I got to wear said armor to fight at a rapier demo on Sunday. There weren't a lot of fighters there, but we made the most of it and got in some great fights. After that it was off to dinner with friends at O'Charley's. I ate too much, but that's what dad's are supposed to do on Father's Day right? Once we got home I had orange creme cheesecake for dessert (NOM!) and got to play a bit on my new video game. It's an Old West themed game for the Xbox with lots of shootin' and 'splosions. Me likey! And now it's Monday (which also happens to be the Summer Solstice) and there's a ton of other stuff to take care of this week. It never ends, but sometimes, just sometimes, life is good!

Life, The Game of

Ok, I understand that life happens and stuff, but does it all have to happen at the same time?? Too many bloody things breaking down around here right now. House issues, car issues, computer issues. Even freakin' vacuum cleaner issues! Enough already!

Family Values?

I was driving to work this morning and wound up behind a pick up truck with a pair of those "truck testicles" hanging from the trailer hitch. Now, normally, I merely shrug at such displays and think "whatever, dude", but in this case, two things stood out. One, this particular set of automotive genitalia were colored a vibrant, eye-catching shade of blue. Two, the vehicle in question eventually turned into an *elemetary school parking lot*! I have to wonder exactly what message this "gentleman" was trying to convey and, perhaps more indicative of our society's screwed up "family values", why nobody seemed to have an issue with their innocent little darlin's being exposed to it. These are probably some of the same conservative "family values" voters who throw hissy fits about gay marriage or flashes of naked boobies on public television. But apparently, simulated scrotums hanging out in public school parking lots are just fine and dandy. Go figure.