The Outlands Party
Protector of the Queen's Heart
Polish Period Garb
The night before battle
Outlanders
The Rock
WMD's
Live like a Darbukan
War Wagon Parking Only
Banners
An afternoon melody
Keeping warm
Wow. This actually looks really freaking cool. I could use another reality to get sucked into. If you dig far enough into this website you can RSVP for a free preview screening.
I'll be at the Mayan screening in Denver on February 28th.
.......
More Estrella photos are coming soon, I swear....
Estrella War is over and I'm home safe. My voice is shot from all the dust. After five days of Atenveldt living, I'm suprised I can talk at all. The fencing was great, living in Darbuka was 24/7 drumming and dancing...the merchants were amazing and yes, the pictures will be up soon.
Seriously, it was the best time I've had all year.
In the last 12 years, 10 of which I was able to attend Estrella, I have managed to keep my wits and not get sick from alcohol. Well, I'm not entirely happy to admit that the streak is broken.
I blame the mead at Nightwolf. You guys really ARE evil. But you know I love you, right? How could I not? You brought a celtic carved BAR with you to war. Jeesus.
I'll tell ya, though, somebody needs to stop all that cloven fruit in your camp. Soooooo bad. Bad. Bad. Bad.
Other points:
Gunvaldt from the West Kingdom: I met you at the Outlands party. Really dear, you are the cutest thing I've seen in a tabard in a long time. But I could have birthed you. Waaaay too young, even if I WERE single. Sorry I bailed on the party, I thought you were getting too frisky. Say Hello to Isra for me when you get home. I'm sure she'll have a huge laugh.
Corvus Aurorae: Thanks for letting me fight on your team. Old School! I think someone might be offended that I didn't fight with Caer Galen...
Orion: Thanks for letting us crash at your house monday night. I miss you and Kai and Brennan. I'm sure it sucks being a displaced Outlander in Atenveldt. Glad to see you haven't gotten rid of all our action figures. Though sleeping in the same room with them was a bit difficult.
Well. Back to reality. Job. Money. Flushing toilets. Email. Hot water on demand. Food without dirt in it.
OK, reality ain't so bad.
I'm officially leaving for the airport in about 20 minutes! Huzzah!!
Since there were no computers in the middle ages, you'll have to just sit tight and wait for my return to hear any good War stories....
But if you happen to be going to War, look me up in Darbuka in the Outlands!!
Thanks Russ, for pointing out this shocking expose. I always wondered if gamer geeks actually had a fear of girls. Now I know.
Just click the above thumbnail to go to the Revver.com site where this video is hosted. Because if I put the whole player code in my blog post, it will automatically play, which I don't appreciate too terribly much. There's nothing like being unprepared for nasal geeks blasting out of your speakers.
Estrella (which means "star" in Spanish) Wars always falls over Valentines Day, which has led to some interesting gifts if I happened to be dating someone at the time. Like the red 'period' underwear. Woo! Too bad they were made from wool. Really, I'm allergic to wool. And a reaction 'down there' does not good romance make.
Honestly, I hate Valentines Day. There's waaaay too much riding on this day now. People get all bent out of shape if they don't receive the 'perfect' gift. I know some ladies that have even broken up with their mates because they did not get some sparkly rock for their hand. How's THAT for pressure?
Recently, Something Awful.com (which is NOT a safe place for anyone under 18) did a Photoshop Phriday about Star Wars Valentines cards. Pefect timing. Estrella War...Star Wars....coincidence?
I think not.
Send your valentine a Star Wars Valentine! Because geeks are sexy.....
Trading Cards: Geeky or Cool? Cool when you can put your OWN photo and art in them, but pretty geeky if you are a 'collector' and keep them in pristine plastic sleeves and never play with them.
I know some people that have more than 10 binders FULL of Magic cards. I never really got into that game much, but the art was cool. Maybe I'm too much of a 'dice-roller' gamer for Magic.
But I do have a few small stacks of comic book art trading cards that I'm certain will eventually get sold when I'm sick of lugging them around from place to place. Thankfully, that collection never reached the obsession level of action figures. Of which I still own around 50...speaking of geeky.
I think I'll use this handy Flickr Toy Page to create more cards like these (see photo) of my friends. That's MUCH cooler than going out and buying cards to make Wizards of the Coast rich. Because I'll be using my IMAGINATION.
Oh, TSR, how I long for the days when games had to be made up in our heads. When stats were all contained on one huge, double sided character sheet, written with the tiniest print possible, to cram as much as you could onto the page. When lead figurines ruled. When GM's spent hours, nay...DAYS making maps and puzzles and dioramas for their campaigns. Where is the devotion like this in card games??
While some of you may know about the lay-offs I've experienced in the past year, some may not. Suffice to say I'm looking at creative ways to make money without handing over my soul in return. I've talked for a long time about opening a store, and I'm taking some baby steps towards this real life goal.
But what about my virtual life? I've been playing Second Life for quite some time, and I've made a few Lindens here and there, but that is NOTHING compared to the folks in this article by WIRED Magazine.
I've met a great many cool people in Second Life, but I've never run across "Second Life's most famous landowner, Anshe Chung, who reportedly makes more than $150,000 a year in the virtual world." My God. A tenth of that would set me up for a long time.
Anshe Chung Wikipedia entry
Anshe Chung Ebay listing
WOW. Did you read the Ebay listing? If you buy the land, you even get a Virtual date with her. What kills me is that someone actually bid nearly $1,500. You know what I could DO with $1,500?? In REAL LIFE??
Sigh.
I suspect that my programming and scripting skills are not really fast enough to be able to make a virtual job work well. Some of the builders in Second Life seem to create their goods as if by magic. It all goes way over my head.
I looked into creating a "Virtual SCA Barony Sim" a while back, and even asked an acquaintance of mine (who was president of the SCA at the time) whether she thought it could work or not. The response I got was lukewarm at best, and that the SCA Inc would not be able to back it or condone it.
Maybe I should just start a Renaissance Faire Sim. Then we could have virtual turkey legs, virtual jousting and virtual bad accents! Hell, I'd even set up a "Virtual Vegetable Justice" booth.
As long as I could get Anshe to sit there and let me throw tomoatoes at her.
But I'm not jealous.
Really.
Looks like the town of Larkspur just isn't going to give up it's fight for water fees. Well, maybe within the next couple of years, there will be a new location for the RenFaire. One without hills would be nice...
Wether they move or not, the rumors are having an effect already. Many merchants are considering dropping this Faire from their schedule. (at an $8000 booth fee for eight weeks, I can certainly understand why...) I fear that too many of the 'good' merchants will bail out, leaving us with imported cheap swords from China as our only shopping option. I don't pay $16 just so I can eat an overcooked turkey leg.
If this Faire moves too far north, it risks competing with Medieval World. If they ever get off the ground, that is.
The human race has been digging up this planet for an awfully long time now. With all of the development, sprawl and technology, I'm usually surprised when someone finds something buried in state, undisturbed. I mean, don't we have nearly every square inch of this planet mapped yet?
Two discoveries have caught my attention this week:
Ancient Greek Merchant Ship Found
Feb. 3, 2006 — Photographs taken by an undersea robot are providing the first public glimpse of a wrecked ancient Greek merchant ship loaded with olive oil and wine that probably capsized in a sudden gust of wind off the coast of the island of Chios in the fourth century B.C.
16th Century Tudor Chapel Uncovered
A Royal chapel last seen more than 350 years ago and used by three generations of monarchs has been uncovered by gardeners. The original brickwork of a 16th century royal chapel, built by Henry VII, was discovered during work to relay pavements at the Old Royal naval College, Greenwich.
Makes me want to go get a shovel and start digging...
