I made a brief appearance at Boar’s Hunt, which this year was combined with Aquaterra Champions. I served as one of three judges for the three Bardic entrants. In addition to the usual songs, stories, and music, Lord Nigel did a period slight-of-hand routine; the classic cups-and-balls act is still done today.
It was quite odd to be on the other side of the judging; of course I’ve made private assessments of other bards, and passed on my share of compliments, but I’ve never done a formal judging and scoring before. I don’t know that it will make me a better bard, but it was an interesting experience, and I was flattered to be considered worthy of being a judge.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
From the Frontlines: June Faire XXX
June Faire is, like Ursulmas, a regular event that is open to the public.
All through grade school and high school I did theater. Usually I was an actor, but in high school I spent a fair amount of time as stage crew. Then I went to college and my active role in theater came to a screeching halt. At Ursulmas I was asked to join a crew putting together a production of Arlecchino and the Cup of Love (a farce comedy written by a member of the SCA, set in period Verona). Doing a production as an adult is a rather different feel (especially the cast party!) from my younger years. The variation of experience in the cast is much greater – we had novices who’d never acted before, and a few who’d been acting longer than I’ve been alive.
We did an invitation-only dress rehearsal, but our real opening was at June Faire, where we did two showings on Saturday.
Performing outdoors with a jury-rigged stage is also quite different from performing in a conventional theater or auditorium. The weather demonstrated this with an assortment of conditions from bright sunshine to rain, from too warm to too cold; cast members at the first show were fanning themselves backstage, during the second three of the female members of the cast gratefully huddled under my cloak. Traffic noise from the road behind us was also an issue. The sun set during the second show, and we finished the play by the light of propane torches.
All in all the play went well, with a decent house for both shows who did quite a bit of laughing, mostly when we expected them to.
And then there was the cast party.
The director and the majority of the actors were from House Methelstede, an Aquaterra house known for its bards. Naturally, therefore, our cast party included a bardic circle. We were rolling along nicely when the camp was hailed, and half a dozen bards and minstrels, including the Bards of Key Point entered! I finally turned in, exhausted, at 3AM, and I’m told that the circle didn’t break up until sunrise. In addition to some truly awesome songs and stories I got to perform a story as proxy for another bard and found someone who knew the lyrics to a song I’d been hunting for.
Words really fail me – it was a truly amazing night.
And June Faire wasn’t over yet.
Sunday I spent most of the day with the Moneyer’s Guild, which was doing a fundraiser – selling examples of our coins. I gave the ‘making money the old-fashioned way’ spiel about two hundred times to mundanes, and the guild sold over a hundred coins (the storekeeper apparently credited my salesmanship with the bulk of the sales). I also struck my first groat – a larger coin than the usual pennies. Most importantly, however, I formally swore my apprentice oath to the Moneyer’s Guild of An Tir. Three other new apprentices were also sworn in, one of whom is almost ready to be a journeyman. For that matter I’ve completed two of the five requirements for being a journeyman (making 100 blank coins by various means and working as a two-man striking team) and am working on the third (my mon die).
A mon die is used to strike the reverse of a coin. In period this allowed the king to know who to chop body parts off of (yes, literally – the middle ages were not all chivalry and deeds of honor) if the coins turned out to have less precious metal than they were supposed to. The guild requires this to be in a 13th century English style – also known as the ‘long cross penny’ (many good images show up on a Google search). Note that unlike modern coins, the same obverse (or face) of a coin would appear with several different reverses (backs) depending on who struck them.
All through grade school and high school I did theater. Usually I was an actor, but in high school I spent a fair amount of time as stage crew. Then I went to college and my active role in theater came to a screeching halt. At Ursulmas I was asked to join a crew putting together a production of Arlecchino and the Cup of Love (a farce comedy written by a member of the SCA, set in period Verona). Doing a production as an adult is a rather different feel (especially the cast party!) from my younger years. The variation of experience in the cast is much greater – we had novices who’d never acted before, and a few who’d been acting longer than I’ve been alive.
We did an invitation-only dress rehearsal, but our real opening was at June Faire, where we did two showings on Saturday.
Performing outdoors with a jury-rigged stage is also quite different from performing in a conventional theater or auditorium. The weather demonstrated this with an assortment of conditions from bright sunshine to rain, from too warm to too cold; cast members at the first show were fanning themselves backstage, during the second three of the female members of the cast gratefully huddled under my cloak. Traffic noise from the road behind us was also an issue. The sun set during the second show, and we finished the play by the light of propane torches.
All in all the play went well, with a decent house for both shows who did quite a bit of laughing, mostly when we expected them to.
And then there was the cast party.
The director and the majority of the actors were from House Methelstede, an Aquaterra house known for its bards. Naturally, therefore, our cast party included a bardic circle. We were rolling along nicely when the camp was hailed, and half a dozen bards and minstrels, including the Bards of Key Point entered! I finally turned in, exhausted, at 3AM, and I’m told that the circle didn’t break up until sunrise. In addition to some truly awesome songs and stories I got to perform a story as proxy for another bard and found someone who knew the lyrics to a song I’d been hunting for.
Words really fail me – it was a truly amazing night.
And June Faire wasn’t over yet.
Sunday I spent most of the day with the Moneyer’s Guild, which was doing a fundraiser – selling examples of our coins. I gave the ‘making money the old-fashioned way’ spiel about two hundred times to mundanes, and the guild sold over a hundred coins (the storekeeper apparently credited my salesmanship with the bulk of the sales). I also struck my first groat – a larger coin than the usual pennies. Most importantly, however, I formally swore my apprentice oath to the Moneyer’s Guild of An Tir. Three other new apprentices were also sworn in, one of whom is almost ready to be a journeyman. For that matter I’ve completed two of the five requirements for being a journeyman (making 100 blank coins by various means and working as a two-man striking team) and am working on the third (my mon die).
A mon die is used to strike the reverse of a coin. In period this allowed the king to know who to chop body parts off of (yes, literally – the middle ages were not all chivalry and deeds of honor) if the coins turned out to have less precious metal than they were supposed to. The guild requires this to be in a 13th century English style – also known as the ‘long cross penny’ (many good images show up on a Google search). Note that unlike modern coins, the same obverse (or face) of a coin would appear with several different reverses (backs) depending on who struck them.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Supreme Court 2 - Constitution 1
Sure, I'm going to talk about Obamacare. But let's start with two other recent decisions.
First the good news: the Supreme Court does seem to have read the 4th Amendment. That protects against UNreasonable searches and seizures. Reasonable searches and seizures? No Constitutional bar exists. What defines reasonable? The court, quite properly, left that question (mostly) alone.
But the bad news begins. The 1st Amendment gets overused a lot, and abused a lot. The abuse is only going to get worse now that the court has ruled that lying about military service and decorations is protected speech. Yes folks, it is legal to lie. Politicians everywhere breathed a sigh of relief, you can be sure. This second ruling I'm rather conflicted about. On the one hand it is, just barely and strictly by the letter of the law, Constitutional. On the other... legal to lie about military service and awards for valor!?! If that's OK, little things like whether you supported issue X or voted for issue Y seem pretty trivial. Someone running for Senate can claim the Medal of Honor and 10 years in the Marines without ever having spent a day in uniform... and its legal.
And things don't stop there. The liberal media went crazy after the ruling on Obamacare, saying "See? Its a tax!" Oddly, an argument they did not make while trying to get the measure through Congress. Gee, I wonder why. But, see, we're not abusing the already tortured-to-death Commerce clause, oh no. We're just exercising our power to Tax! All is well.
Um... no. See Congress does indeed have the power to "lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises..." All well and good. But, OOPS! "...all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States."
But wait, that didn't say Taxes have to be uniform. We're still good, right?
Sure... if it were a tax. Taxes, however, go after something you HAVE. An income tax is on the money you have. A sales tax is on the product you (are about to) have. Paying a fee for NOT having something, which is what Obamacare does, ISN'T A TAX. That, my friends, is what is called a PENALTY.
The liberal media has also roundly derided the 'broccoli' idea, where someone suggested that Obamacare would be a precedent that would allow Congress to require you to eat broccoli. Well, they're half right. It isn't. What it IS, is a precedent that says Congress can make you pay money for NOT eating broccoli, or, let's get this important bit clear: not eating ENOUGH broccoli.
See, Obamacare doesn't just require you to have health insurance. No, you've got to have acceptable insurance. In other words, ENOUGH insurance. Who decides what's enough? The government. Who decides how much you pay if you don't have 'enough'? The government. Who decides what's enough broccoli? The government.
Can the government, based on the precedent of Obamacare and the supreme court ruling, fine me $1,000,000 for not having ten tons of broccoli?
Yes.
They.
Can.
All they have to do is say it is a tax. But that's OK, because lying is legal now.
First the good news: the Supreme Court does seem to have read the 4th Amendment. That protects against UNreasonable searches and seizures. Reasonable searches and seizures? No Constitutional bar exists. What defines reasonable? The court, quite properly, left that question (mostly) alone.
But the bad news begins. The 1st Amendment gets overused a lot, and abused a lot. The abuse is only going to get worse now that the court has ruled that lying about military service and decorations is protected speech. Yes folks, it is legal to lie. Politicians everywhere breathed a sigh of relief, you can be sure. This second ruling I'm rather conflicted about. On the one hand it is, just barely and strictly by the letter of the law, Constitutional. On the other... legal to lie about military service and awards for valor!?! If that's OK, little things like whether you supported issue X or voted for issue Y seem pretty trivial. Someone running for Senate can claim the Medal of Honor and 10 years in the Marines without ever having spent a day in uniform... and its legal.
And things don't stop there. The liberal media went crazy after the ruling on Obamacare, saying "See? Its a tax!" Oddly, an argument they did not make while trying to get the measure through Congress. Gee, I wonder why. But, see, we're not abusing the already tortured-to-death Commerce clause, oh no. We're just exercising our power to Tax! All is well.
Um... no. See Congress does indeed have the power to "lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises..." All well and good. But, OOPS! "...all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States."
But wait, that didn't say Taxes have to be uniform. We're still good, right?
Sure... if it were a tax. Taxes, however, go after something you HAVE. An income tax is on the money you have. A sales tax is on the product you (are about to) have. Paying a fee for NOT having something, which is what Obamacare does, ISN'T A TAX. That, my friends, is what is called a PENALTY.
The liberal media has also roundly derided the 'broccoli' idea, where someone suggested that Obamacare would be a precedent that would allow Congress to require you to eat broccoli. Well, they're half right. It isn't. What it IS, is a precedent that says Congress can make you pay money for NOT eating broccoli, or, let's get this important bit clear: not eating ENOUGH broccoli.
See, Obamacare doesn't just require you to have health insurance. No, you've got to have acceptable insurance. In other words, ENOUGH insurance. Who decides what's enough? The government. Who decides how much you pay if you don't have 'enough'? The government. Who decides what's enough broccoli? The government.
Can the government, based on the precedent of Obamacare and the supreme court ruling, fine me $1,000,000 for not having ten tons of broccoli?
Yes.
They.
Can.
All they have to do is say it is a tax. But that's OK, because lying is legal now.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
From the Frontlines: Ursulmas XXX
At Ursulmas, I struck gold.
OK, I helped strike gold. A gold coin, to be precise.
Gold, unlike pewter, needs to be ‘hot struck’. This means that the metal blank needs to be heated (literally red-hot) just prior to striking. We used a three-man crew: one heating the blank (a little bit of antique gold found by a prospector with a metal detector), one holding the die ready to place it on the coin (me) and one ready to swing the hammer. We did two practice strikes on a metal called ‘merlin’s gold’ (which has very little actual gold) to get the technique right.
Why is striking gold such a big deal for a moneyer? Well, we don't get to do it much. Economics is a harsh master. Pewter, our usual medium for coins, runs around $30 a pound, give or take. Silver, the most common period metal and what we pretend our pewter actually is, runs around $30 an ounce.
Gold is currently around $50... a GRAM. That one tiny coin we struck had a metal value of several hundred dollars.
I did a whole bunch of other moneying stuff, including something new to me: making blanks by pouring pewter into round molds in order to make early-period coins. This produces a larger and rougher blank than the rolling/hammering process I’ve gotten used to, but on the plus side requires much less in the way of materials.
I danced with Emerald Rain, doing a stick dance with Misty (mock combat, each of us armed with two wooden sticks about two and a half feet long).
OK, I helped strike gold. A gold coin, to be precise.
Gold, unlike pewter, needs to be ‘hot struck’. This means that the metal blank needs to be heated (literally red-hot) just prior to striking. We used a three-man crew: one heating the blank (a little bit of antique gold found by a prospector with a metal detector), one holding the die ready to place it on the coin (me) and one ready to swing the hammer. We did two practice strikes on a metal called ‘merlin’s gold’ (which has very little actual gold) to get the technique right.
Why is striking gold such a big deal for a moneyer? Well, we don't get to do it much. Economics is a harsh master. Pewter, our usual medium for coins, runs around $30 a pound, give or take. Silver, the most common period metal and what we pretend our pewter actually is, runs around $30 an ounce.
Gold is currently around $50... a GRAM. That one tiny coin we struck had a metal value of several hundred dollars.
I did a whole bunch of other moneying stuff, including something new to me: making blanks by pouring pewter into round molds in order to make early-period coins. This produces a larger and rougher blank than the rolling/hammering process I’ve gotten used to, but on the plus side requires much less in the way of materials.
I danced with Emerald Rain, doing a stick dance with Misty (mock combat, each of us armed with two wooden sticks about two and a half feet long).
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
From the Frontlines: Good Yule / Last Hunt
Note: Good Yule / Last Hunt took place December 3rd, 2011. Yeah, I'm THAT far behind.
After six years, basically the same period of time I’ve been in the Barony, Hauk and Rosamund stepped down as Baron and Baroness. I’m sad to see them go – I felt they were very good leaders for our Barony, and their stability stands in stark contrast to the King and Queen, where we get a new one every six months. That makes it hard for me to connect with them or feel any real loyalty; I’ve gone entire reigns without even seeing the King or Queen. Luckily at the same event they were made Court Baron and Baroness by Their Majesties, so I can keep calling them “Your Excellency”.
It is an interesting insight into feudalism; my first loyalty is to Aquaterra, though I certainly consider myself a citizen of An Tir as a whole. The reverse is true of my mundane loyalties; despite being a fanatical constitutionalist, and thus highly supportive of the independent roles of the state and local governments, my first loyalty is to the United States as a whole, not Washington State and certainly not Snohomish County or the town of Lake Stevens. But in the SCA, even when I compete for An Tir against the West or some other kingdom, I’m still highly conscious that I’m doing so as a representative of Aquaterra.
I helped make a presentation to the new Baron and Baroness on behalf of the moneyers guild; scattering our off-strikes to the crowd while Raymond presented the good ones to Their Excellencies (a special minting for their ascension, many of which I’d helped strike earlier in the event).
Somewhat to my chagrin, I was awarded the Order of the Plate (the Barony’s first level Arts and Sciences award). Chagrin, because they first tried to find me to present it to in June! Apparently I’ve missed quite a few courts.
After six years, basically the same period of time I’ve been in the Barony, Hauk and Rosamund stepped down as Baron and Baroness. I’m sad to see them go – I felt they were very good leaders for our Barony, and their stability stands in stark contrast to the King and Queen, where we get a new one every six months. That makes it hard for me to connect with them or feel any real loyalty; I’ve gone entire reigns without even seeing the King or Queen. Luckily at the same event they were made Court Baron and Baroness by Their Majesties, so I can keep calling them “Your Excellency”.
It is an interesting insight into feudalism; my first loyalty is to Aquaterra, though I certainly consider myself a citizen of An Tir as a whole. The reverse is true of my mundane loyalties; despite being a fanatical constitutionalist, and thus highly supportive of the independent roles of the state and local governments, my first loyalty is to the United States as a whole, not Washington State and certainly not Snohomish County or the town of Lake Stevens. But in the SCA, even when I compete for An Tir against the West or some other kingdom, I’m still highly conscious that I’m doing so as a representative of Aquaterra.
I helped make a presentation to the new Baron and Baroness on behalf of the moneyers guild; scattering our off-strikes to the crowd while Raymond presented the good ones to Their Excellencies (a special minting for their ascension, many of which I’d helped strike earlier in the event).
Somewhat to my chagrin, I was awarded the Order of the Plate (the Barony’s first level Arts and Sciences award). Chagrin, because they first tried to find me to present it to in June! Apparently I’ve missed quite a few courts.
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