Link Highlight: The SCA

I'm running low on links to highlight. Of course, I really should add a bunch more links...

The SCA is the Society for Creative Anachronism. We're a bunch of pre-1600s re-enactors/re-creators. The SCA has been around for over 40 years, has over 30,000 members, and has been described as the largest paramilitary organization in the world.

You'll note that we were started in the 1960's, and if you think about it that's not very surprising. The SCA is composed of people who would rather spend time in a different era - though the vast majority of us would rather bring modern plumbing along.

The 30,000 comes from the SCA's official website. I think that number is based on official membership, which is not required for most activities, and thus significantly understates our numbers. Quite a lot of people more involved than I am are not official members. Pennsic, our largest event, annually has over 10,000 people in attendance. True, we draw some people from other groups for that event, but still - that's a third of our membership.

The paramilitary thing is even more questionable. True, we teach and practice the use of various martial arts, most of which are much closer to the realities of combat than, say, modern fencing. On the other hand 'paramilitary' to me implies organization. Now, in theory, we've got organization. There's the SCA as a whole, its 19 kingdoms, their hundreds of baronies, shires, and principalities, and so forth. Despite that, I have never seen a large group of people less well organized than the SCA. If you're lucky, the rough schedule for an event will be available a week beforehand. If a moderate miracle happens, the schedule will be accurate to within half an hour. More frequently, some things on the schedule won't happen, a lot that weren't scheduled will, and at least one or two things will be off by more than an hour. And this is considered normal and acceptable. Some people fight for their household, some for their barony, some only for their kingdom, and some for whoever gives them the most cookies and beer that day.

Now, can you imagine trying to get a group like that to do, well, anything as a coordinated whole? A well regulated militia we ain't.

The thing I love about the SCA is the feeling that I am in a place that is much more positive than the world tends to be. More courteous, more chivalric, happier, more free. Salute your worthy opponent before you fight. Share a drink with them afterwards and laugh about how you really blew THAT move.

This is not to say that the SCA is composed only of the best people, simply that the bell curve of human quality is noticeably shifted from what I find in everyday life. Are we insane? Possibly. But perhaps, to quote Man of La Mancha: "To surrender to dreams - this may be madness; to seek treasure where there is only trash. Too much sanity may be madness! But maddest of all - -to see life as it is and not as it should be. "

Bodies

I had a discussion with some co-workers yesterday about burial, organ donation, etc.

Now, I'm an organ donor. I'm a donor for anything they can find a use for when I die. Heart, eyes, skin, whatever. If there's a way to drain my blood and use it for transfusions or for research, that's fine with me.

Part of all that, of course, is because doing that can help save lives, or greatly improve them. But part of that is because I simply don't care what happens to my body after I die. My body is not ME. I am a collection of thoughts, experiances, dreams, opinions, hopes... and none of that is about my body.

I don't care if I'm buried, cremated, or mummified. I believe that when I die my spirit leaves my body. I'm not sure where it goes, or if it just ceases to exist, but I'm sure it has nothing to do with my body anymore. I've seen people die. I can't describe what I saw, but I could sense that their body was just a bunch of flesh at that point.

What do you believe happens when you die?

Numerology Again

Today my total overtime hours worked at Boeing reach 787.

My total work hours (OT and regular) are 4,747 (note last three digits).

Shoggoth on the Roof

Yesterday I listened to the score of "Shoggoth on the Roof." SotR is a parody/filk of Fidler on the Roof set in the Cthulhu universe.

Somewhere, HP Lovecraft is rolling in his grave. The music shows great creativity, intelligence, and is a very high-grade work of filk. As such, it is highly funny and equally highly disturbing. "How does the Shoggoth balance on the roof? I can tell you in one word: Tentacles!"

Overall, it left me with a desire to play Cults Across America again - much the same attitude of light-hearted Lovecraftian horror.

Save me a Seat in Valhalla

This is a filk I wrote to the tune of "The Piano Man"

Its just before dawn on a summer's day
Loading the longships for sea
And Sven he comes up with an idea
And walks up to the captain and me
He says "I know a land not to far from here
"Where there's liquor and women galore
"Oh there's mead and there's meat
"And the waters are sweet
"The town's just a stone's throw from shore."

Chorus:
Save me a seat in Valhalla's Halls
Save me a seat by the fire
For we're all going to die before morning
So send down a Valkyrie Choir!

Well we loaded our boats and we sailed away
Ready to pillage, THEN burn
We sailed down the coast
And we landed our host
But that's when our luck took a turn
For this town had a full hundred warriors
Who ambushed us far from the ships
The first sign was a volley of javelins
Half our men died on their tips.

Chorus

Now we knew we would live if we ran away
And we'd probably die if we stayed
But we're true vikings all
And we answered the call
And we sang as we ran to the fray:

Chorus

From the Front Lines: Warren War

This past weekend, a fierce battle raged between the Baronies of Aquaterra and Lion's Gate. The glorious forces of Aquaterra met the invaders from the north in the Shire of Shittimwoode, engaging them both in deadly battle and in contests of arts, games, and bardic skill.

My own part in this contest was as a rapier fighter (fought for Aquaterra in the traditional "sheep stealing" scenario, victory to Lion's Gate despite our best efforts and superior numbers), and as one of the seven competitors for the bardic championship in a double-elimination tournament (I was eliminated single-handedly by the eventual victor, Darcy (sp?), also from Aquaterra).

Our other rapier scenarios included the "papal ascension" scenario, in which we divided into three teams of five (French, Italian, and Spanish), each with a pope. The goal was to have the last remaining pope. We also did a "street battle" on a road all of five feet wide, which was notable mostly for the guy who, faced with five to one odds towards the end of the scenario, managed to take down four of his attackers before being finished off.

At the bardic I performed:
1st round, win, "Save me a seat in Valhalla" (filk, mine)
2nd round, loss, "The Impossible Dream" (from Man of La Mancha)
3rd round (theme: Puppies), win, an improvizational filk of "Hap'n Frog of Cambreath" (which became "Puppy Dog sittin' by the trail/his tongue's hangin' out and he's waggin' his tail/... How Many Fleas Are On Your Hide!")
4th round (theme: friends), loss, "Man of La Mancha" (from "Man of La Mancha).

I was rather proud of the filked filk, since I had about twenty minutes to come up with it (from the time the round theme was announced to the time my turn came up). Chris came up with some of the words, including the "how many fleas are on your hide" bit, and I was very happy with the result, even if it didn't hold a candle to the improvised entries for the final round (double theme: doughnuts and stars). Three of the four previous "bunny bards" were present for the tournament: Nicholas (BB1), Caiaphas (BB2), and Quentin (BB4, outgoing champion).

Link Highlight: Sluggy 10th Anniversary Tribute

Sluggy has had its ups and downs over the years, but what doesn't in 10 years, especially on the Web?

Sluggy won't officially turn 10 until tomorrow, but I'll be at Warren War tomorrow, so... anyway.

I was actually a member of the sluggy.net bboards for a while - active enough that I actually earned a title: the Nitpicking Official Unofficial Strip Finder. Some of the milestone posts I saved:

First Sluggy message, 4/24/02

Security Breach. An unidentified user has been detected. Designate target "Gridley."

Proceed with check for evilness.

Affiliation with HeretiCorp: Negative.
Affiliation with Microsoft: Negative.
Politician/Lawyer: Negative.
Undead/ethereal: Negative.

Proceed with background check.

Primary occupation: college student, engineering.
Secondary occupation: paramedic.
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Proceed with substance abuse test.

First exposed to sluggy: May 26th, 2001 http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=010526 (scratched head, went about business)
Addicted to sluggy: February 18th, 2002 http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=020218 (read all posted sluggy within three days)

Caffeine: trace. Negative addiction.

No other addictive substances detected.

Alert: began college on same day as first Sluggy publication. Possible conspiracy.
Alert: significant personality correlation with Torg. Possible clone.

No other significant factors found.

Begin routine monitoring.

Sluggy Post, 5/3/02

Hmm...

Three strips for the Vampires, under the moon,
Seven for the Demons in their place of Pain,
Nine for minor characters doomed to die,
One for the Dark Author on his dark computer
In the land of Sluggy, where the Shadows lie.

One Bun to rule them all, one Bun to find them,
One Bun to bring them all and with a switchblade blind them
In the land of Sluggy, where the Shadows lie.


A Tribute to Sluggy Freelance Book 6

All that are dead are not finished
Not all those who wander are lost
The plane that is old can’t be EMP’ed
The brainwashed won’t think of the cost.

In the dreaming a soul shall awaken
In the darkness a new fire will burn
Renewed shall be ‘bot that was broken
The Vowelless again shall return

King Rorik the Brave, Revised

I've always felt that the transition in King Rorik to the charge was weak, and needed another verse. Now I've got it.


Upon the field of battle are great tales of valor borne
Of knights so brave and squires true
Of banners raised or torn
Unto the field of Pennsic War there came a mighty lord
King Rorik was his noble name
And thirty men his hoard.

An Tir! He shouted loudly
An Tir! He called our proudly
An Tir! King Rorik came
With thirty men behind him.

King Rorik came to Midrealm's King and said what shall we do?
I've come to fight and to have fun
My men want glory too
But Midrealm's King was not impressed by thirty men, nor King
He said "just go and fight someone
Of you they'll never sing"

Poor King Rorik was so sad, his crown did all but droop
Until a lady rallied him
He went to lead his troop
He led his men into the trees but no one could they find
He split his force into three parts
"On now!" With seven men behind

An Tir! He shouted loudly
An Tir! He called our proudly
An Tir! King Rorik went
With seven men behind him.

Now in a grove of trees he stands, the base of a small hill
He looks up to the top and says
"Next thing we see, we kill!"
Their patience is rewarded by the site of banner then
Now o'er the crest a shieldwall comes
Two hundred fifty men

Two hundred fifty men 'gainst eight may seem a little much
But our great King was not the kind
To think of odds and such
He ordered all his men to give a great shout of "An Tir!"
And up the hill he led the charge
He'd never heard of fear.

An Tir! He shouted loudly
An Tir! He called our proudly
An Tir! King Rorik CHARGED!
With seven men behind him.

The soldiers of the Eastrealm are not given much to fear
Yet so loudly did those eight men shout
An army must be near
The banners of the East now turned, before eight men they fled
"The entire Midrealm Army's here!
King Rorik's at their head!"

Now o'er the hill our heroes charge, King Rorik at the fore
And on the other side they see
At least three hundred more
But those three hundred men have heard the shouting of "An Tir!"
They see their comrades flee in dread
And turn to face the rear

An Tir! He shouted loudly
An Tir! He called our proudly
An Tir! King Rorik charged
With seven men behind him.

Five hundred men now flee before the wrath of great An Tir
Until someone looks back and says
"There's only eight men here"
The banners of the East return, the shieldwall they restore
It doesn't matter to our king
"We routed them before!"

AN TIR! He shouted loudly
AN TIR He called our proudly
AN TIR! King Rorik charged...
With seven men behind him.

Medic 83

As this is my 83rd post, it seemed appropraite to discuss a former aspect of myself: CMU EMS Medic 83.

In many ways, Medic 83 was a throwback to my life in high school; surrounded by people who took the situtation far less seriously than I did, and who deemed me unfit for social contact but found me useful because I did the job, especially parts of it they didn't want to do.

In high school, it bothered me, but I didn't know that anything else was possible. In college, I knew that other situtations were possible.

It all came apart when I was charged with an offense I didn't commit. I proved that I hadn't done what I was charged with, whereupon the head of the organization (another student) informed me that my innocence of the specific charge was irrelevant, and that I was going to be punished anyway. This from a guy who was carrying around illegal medications in his jump bag.

For the most part, I've laid Medic 83 to rest. Part of him lived on for a time in R/WV EMSA Medic 452, but that, too, is a thing of the past.

I've been permanently changed by the things I learned, saw, and did while in EMS. For the most part, I think the changes were for the better. It has, however, made me... hardened, perhaps, to death. That hardening can be useful, but I wonder if I am quite as human as I might otherwise have been.

I'll always be haunted by a line from the movie "Backdraft." A guy is talking about how he always wanted to be a fireman. The girl he's talking to comments that he was. He responds: "I guess I should have said I wanted to be a good one."

I was an average medic at the end. I was never a good one.

The question is, is an average paramedic better than a good first responder? That's a question I need to answer - if they are, I have a duty to join the SCA Chirurgeonate. I swore an oath, and nothing since has invalidated it. But if an average medic is not better, I have no right to take up that responsibility.

I have made my mistakes, luckily none of them fatal as far as I know. And I do have one real, solid, save to my credit. One life on the scoreboard without question, and a number of assists.

Extreme Questions

What's the most outrageous question you've ever asked someone?

Just how odd is it to contact one of your ex-significant others and ask them how much sex they're having now compared to how much you had when you were dating?

I know I spend a lot of time dwelling on the past, and what ifs, but just how 'out there' is that for normal people?

House Update

Well, the builder has released the home site for construction, which means the house will be finished in mid/late November; rather earlier than I was hoping, but the timing could be a lot worse.

The water's over my head and I don't even know how to swim.

On Vacation, or AWOL?

My manager is on vacation.

One of my coworkers is on vacation.

My group lead may or may not be on vacation on any given day.

One of the contractors in my group just seems to be AWOL.

The two interns who were down the aisle are back where they came from.

All in all, it is rather lonely in this aisle of cubicles this week.

Obituary

My grandfather passed away this morning.

I remember him as a retired US Navy officer, engineering branch. A graduate of Annapolis, MIT, and Carnegie Mellon. A collector and restorer of antique cars, a sailor, and a model railroader.

And despite all that, someone I never quite managed to connect to the way I would have liked. Perhaps, I realize, because we were even more alike than I had ever thought.

He is survived by his two daughters.

To Absent Companions.

Link Highlight: Real Life Comics

This is a highly amuzing and highly varied comic strip. For while I would start each of the gaming sessions I ran with a gaming-related comic from it.

Here's the first one I read:

http://www.reallifecomics.com/archive/030617.html

That's it. Short post today. Hey, I had a rough night.

Creativity

Today I came up with not one but two news songs while starting my prep for the Warren War Bardic Championship.

Here's the first one; needs some polishing, but I like the basics.

To the tune of "Oh what a beautiful morning" from Oklahoma!

There's a bright golden haze on the eric
There's a bright golden haze on the eric
The banners all wave like a bold dragon's tail
And at Armor Inspection there's no one they fail

Chorus:
Oh what a beautiful tourney
Oh what a beautiful war
I've got a beautiful new sword
I couldn't ask for much more

All the marshals are standing like statues
All the marshals are standing like statues
They call the salutes and they call to lay on
And the clash of our weapons is sweeter than song

Chorus

All our blows they are called with great honor
All our blows they are called with great honor
I don't mind a bit that I've just lost my bout
For now I can watch as the knights slug it out

Chorus
Oh what a beautiful war!

Clothing Styles

What's up with wearing ripped jeans? I saw a girl the other day who had a rip so far up the back of her thigh that I could be quite sure she wasn't wearing boxers. I'd lay long odds she was wearing a thong or going without, in fact.

Are people just trying to attract attention? Surely that's got to be uncomfortable for sitting on... just about anything that isn't clean and upholstered, actually.

And in a factory, no less. I mean, why bother wearing safety equipment if your clothing has holes?

So Long Mom...

... I'm off to drop The Bomb... (Tom Lehrer)



August marks the 'anniversary' of the only use of atomic weapons in combat.



I've never understood the 'anti-bomb' camp when they talk about how immoral using atomic weapons was. I can understand (and even agree with) objections to the strategic bombing used in WW II in general (including a large number of the bomber raids in Europe and a majority of the ones in the Pacific), but I can see no reason why the use of atomic weapons is sufficiently more evil than, say, the firebombing of Tokyo, to merit any special attention.



Attacking civilian targets is morally questionable at the very best. The problem is, of course, that industry of the time was in far too close proximity to population centers for the accuracy of high-altitude bombing of the time. Sometimes, we didn't even try (see, again, the deliberate dropping of incendiaries on Tokyo). Yet I've heard not a single complaint. Apparently it is OK to kill hundreds of thousands of people over the course of months, but not tens of thousands in a single day.

I'm not going to argue the military/political necessity of the bombing, I'm just confused by the moral separation.

Link Highlight: Free Books!

Many of which are worth considerably more than you pay for them.

This week's link highlight is the Baen Free Library.

This is a free, completely legal, easy-to-use digital library of over 100 published sci-fi/fantasy books. They can be downloaded or read online, and in multiple formats including HTML.

The publisher (Baen books) is a large sci-fi/fantasy press. The founder (who has since passed away), felt that putting up the first book of a series was a good way to get people to buy the rest of the series, often including that first book. From all the press I've seen, he was right. Judging by my present-day sci-fi/fantasy collection, either I'm smack dab in the center of their target market of he was a genius.

The old marketing tradition of "the first taste is free" is now applied to almost all Baen books - you can read the first few chapters of any recent Baen book online, generally starting several months before it is published. (This is in addition to the 100+ free books.)

I think that I first ran across the free library thanks to Sluggy Freelance. A sluggy fan who is also an author (John Ringo) published a book with a giant tank named "Bun Bun" (after one of the main Sluggy characters), and Pete Abrams (who writes Sluggy Freelance) put up a link on the Sluggy Freelance home page to the book.

I know that among the early books I read there were Bedlam Boyz (Ellen Guon), 1632 (Eric Flint), On Basilisk Station (David Weber), With the Lightnings (David Drake), and An Oblique Approach (Eric Flint/David Drake).

The free library led me to the "Collected driblets of Baen" http://jiltanith.thefifthimperium.com/ which led to me picking up several non-Baen authors.

Either the free library or John Ringo (one might easily argue both) led me to Heather Alexander, one of my favorite musicians.

I've bought more hardcover Baen books than I have hardcovers from every other fiction publisher combined.

Baen has continued to expand slowly into the digital world - you can now buy electronic copies of their new releases for less than the price of a paperback book. You can buy many of their older books too - including some that I've spent years looking for in bookstores without success.

So be warned: if you venture into the worlds of fantasy, you may never escape.

Missing the Past

I'm missing the past again today - specifically college, where I got to pick most of the people I dealt with on a daily basis, and the vast majority of the available people had the sense and motivation required to accomplish things (any things, possibly even the things they were supposed to be doing) on a daily basis.

I was talking with a ~20 year Boeing veteran yesterday, and he was (good naturedly) laughing at the fact that I felt motivated to do a good job just for the sake of doing it.

Is it just the IRC that is this way? Just Boeing? Just the corporate world? Or was I in some small island of optimism and energy while at Carnegie Mellon?

The evidence of the debacle that was "Do Something Day" at C-MU seems to rule out the latter possibility.

Pen Name: Phoenix

I think I need a new pen name, or perhaps I should have known better than to write a phoenix-heavy story.

JK Rowling has done an interview in which she reveals a great deal of what happens in the missing 19 years in Deathly Hallows - neatly shooting holes in several of the plot points for my current fan fic.

So the revised Flame of Life, as with the Flame of Life I never finished, will need to die and be reborn. Again.

And then it will almost certainly go A/U when she publishes the Harry Potter Encyclopedia.

Sigh.