Behavior in Society

Pennsic comes as early as it can this year! Time to trot out and revise the supper club details. 

For those who haven't camped with Vair & Ermine before, while we do not have a meal plan, several campers have, in the past, agreed to share dinner and clean up duties so that no one has to do their own cooking every night. Also, it is only slightly more work to cook for 10 people than it is to cook for two. (Really!) 

 The plan is simple:

• You provide dinner one evening for all the members of the supper club, never more than 12 or so adults. You clean up your cooking. 
• The other members then provide dinner and clean up for you for the other evenings of the supper club. 
• We do not run supper club on the same evening as Atlantian court. 
• The exact start night is negotiable, based on when people arrive and we have a "quorum" of clubbers. 
• We try to coordinate what's being cooked which night so that we don't end up with spaghetti and meat balls 3 nights in a row. 
• I use the term "cook" here, but if you want to order pizza for the other clubbers, that's fine too. Encouraged even, no matter what some clubbers have thought. We don't expect fancy medieval food, nor that you cook it over a pit fire.

That's it! 

Our camp kitchen is pretty well equipped, so don't worry about having to bring lots of gear, unless you want to make something tricky. 

Here are a few things we've discovered over time:
Unless we have lots of people arriving early at the war, it rarely makes sense to start the shared dinners prior to the middle of the war, around the August 1st this year. 

Approximate 7PM dinner time is a good choice, but negotiable. Knowing when you'll have dinner ready assures that everyone is there. 

If you're arriving at war after the middle weekend and want to join in, then you may benefit from cooking at home, freezing it all and bringing it to war ready to thaw and reheat. I've done this many times. 

Once I get a better idea of how many people are interested, we can sort out who else is cooking what when.

If you're interested, email me with your arrival day, your preferred "cooking" night and what you'd like to provide. Also, any food allergies or dietary restrictions.
I hope you'll join us at the table!

So far, Supper Club is:

1. Corby and
2. Thjora
3. Edwin
4. Theo and
5. Roland
6. Philip and
7. Leo also
8. Susan
9. Terafan
10. Nicolosa (perhaps pair with Terafan?)

If we pair up those last two, we now have five nights covered, unless someone on that list is a dish monkey. Have I forgotten anyone else who has said they are in for this year?

As our camp has gotten bigger and Supper Club more popular, we have gotten to capacity on number of cooking teams for the number of nights we run the club. Just extending earlier into the first week of war is not usually an option, as the club works best when the majority of people in it are all at the war and eating. But we typically have one slot open for a kitchen monkey: someone who does not cook but instead takes care of all the dishes. This is always negotiable, and requires the assent of all the cooks.

Please respond at http://delaflamme.org/site/pennsic-supper-club-2009 because that's cooler than trying to manage it via LiveJournal and Facebook too. You should be able to login with openID (which uses your LJ or FB account) shortly, though it is broken at the moment. Or just create an account on my site if you don't have one.

If technology scares you, please email me and I'll add you.

Last night Philip, Aethelwolf, Kelby, Leo and I piled into Philip's van and headed to the monthly Bay Company practice in Richmond. We raced the rain most of the way there, but luckily we never saw any of the hail or serious weather that happened a bit north and west of my place. (One house in Fluvanna had its roof torn off.)

Turnout was a little lighter than last time, probably because of the threat of bad weather. Aside from a good Caer Mear turnout and us, the only out of towners were Moe and Matthew from Tir-Y-Don.

I took some gear out to the playground where fighting was going on, and it was just pickup fights. So I armored up for sword and shield inside the church, trundled out---into melees. Sigh. I hate fighting sword and shield in melee. In fact, last night was probably only the 13th or 14th time I've ever done it. And it showed.

Still, a little melee practice is good for everyone, and after a short break I swapped to polearm just in time for the bridge rez scenario, which was quite enjoyable. Especially as the only long weapon out.

The rain put an end to melees and we adjourned inside for one on one practice. Wow it was sticky! I tried out my new 5'6" split rattan pole and it proved very fast. Quite the face stabber. I think I'll name it Needler.

I'm still feeling good, though tiring more easily than I care to. No weights this week, aside from shovelfuls of mulch.

The trip home was filled with ancient SCA stories ("Don't worry... I'm a nurse!")  and a decision to cancel Thursday armored practice in Charlottesville because Philip will be up in NoVA working and I have way too much to do for Golden Rose and would not be fighting anyway, two days prior to a big tournament.

For a while now, I've been considering changing to a more period body armor. Since mail is no good for protecting against rattan blows, that means lamellar if I want a period body armor.

Polar Bear Forge has some pretty attractive prices for lamellar, though I'm not sure about their materials. Probably fine, I just like to think that getting the best possible alloy of steel might mean a weight-to-look ratio that will be more acceptable. So I'm also talking to Osprey et al at Darkwood, since their expertise at alloys is very high. No, Darkwood does not currently stock or even make lamellar.

I mention this because a bulk order may save some money, if only on shipping. Philip, Turgeis, Ragnar Ribcracker and a couple of the UVa students are also interested, so we are already in range of a bulk order. The more the merrier though!

Assuming a normal sized person and a medium sized individual plate, body armor out of lamellar requires around 200 plates, and the target price I would like to get to is less than or equal to 60¢ per plate. So pretty affordable.

Details of alloy (or even type of metal: steel vs. aluminum or titanium) and style of plate are up for debate, and it may not actually matter about the style, since we might be able to get a bulk discount on several styles ordered together. Yes, titanium will be more than 60¢ a plate.

My time schedule would be to have these in time for me to finish the shirt by Pennsic, though Turgeis would prefer by Sapphire. Either is possible, I think.

Other questions? Chime in.

Those of you following his journal may already know that my newest squire, Girard and his lady Guenievre have been chosen by Their Majesties to become the next baron and baroness of Windmaster's Hill. For that, we offer congratulations!

This is nearly becoming a household tradition, with Thjora and me, Edwin and Orlando and now Girard & Guenievre all being raised to the landed baronage at some point.

Girard will leave my service completely, as I did with TJ and as Edwin did. He shall be the King's man entire, as it should be. Of course he will still be welcome as he was at our hearth, camp or anywhere else, though I imagine we shall see him less for some years.

And if, at the end of his duty in Windmaster's finds him free of other obligation, we'll be happy to have him back.

In the short term, we're looking forward to Ice Castles, and one last chance for him to fight in my colors with Philip and me.

And yes, this is why I confirmed I would be coming to Ymir.

This list will expand over time and will be available at delaflamme.org . I think of these things, know I should write them down, and then forget. Now it is here, and I'll come back to it as other things resurface in my mind.

The idea here is to note the things that 1) too many people do, 2) Are easy or cheap to change or avoid, 3) are in no way medieval. Feel free to chime in!

• Ring Belts. I've never seen an example of one of these in period. Belts have real buckles.
• T shirts whose collars are visible under your tunic. Get an undertunic, or a v neck t if you must.
• Tankard Holders. These are from the 1970's Renn Faire Period.
• More than 2 favors on your belt. Some people look like rag merchants from so many.

Quick note! Don't be afraid of a rainy forecast, we'll have fun no matter what at the Isenfir Games Tourney/Demo at the Hill Top Berry Farm and Winery this Saturday.

If the weather is too bad to fight, there's always an afternoon of Mead Fighting! I know Caleb is coming up from Virginia Beach. Anyone else planning to make it from out of town?

Once again, it's time to arrange my favorite way to spend Thanksgiving: By hosting a bunch of our close and new friends for Way Too Much Food.

Traditional activities: I smoke a turkey and go on a last minute mad scramble for some esoteric food ingredient I thought would be easy to find, Thjora does some amazing pies, Adam brings wild caught pacific salmon (at least I hope this is a tradition now!), Helga oversees the purple mashed potatoes, and we completely avoid football. New in the mix this year: four player Wii marathons! Bring your controllers.

If you've ever been before, or been invited before, you're invited again. If you're someone we talk to but haven't invited before, you're invited.

Thjora doesn't like me calling this the "Little Lost Lambs" Thanksgiving, and it really has mutated from that into something else. But if you read this blog and are in the approximate area and have nowhere else to go for Thanksgiving, well, drop me a line. Odds are, you're welcome. Kids are welcome, just keep in mind that our house is slightly non-kid safe. Dinner could be record breaking if all invitees come.

This year, we will certainly be showing off our new garage, probably the newly-paneled rec room, and maybe my new helmet!. Unlike last year, we have no plan to tear out the kitchen on Friday. We still plan to, just not soon.

Other merriment will take place over the weekend, possibly including the often-planned, never realized bonfire, fight practice and maybe a wine tasting. So even if you must have overcooked green beans at grandma's house, come on over the bridge to our place for the rest of the weekend!

Please RSVP to both me and Thjora. The spare rooms are sort of first come first serve, but my in-laws get dibs. They rarely stay over though.

UVa is a conservative school. Ask Anastasia, who was a TA here. These are, to a great extent, the children of privilege, power and pedigree.

Walking (say it with me) the mile from my car to my office this morning, I passed 3 different moving Free Ride to Vote for Obama vans. Every sidewalk was chalked up with reminder after reminder to vote today for Obama. Posters were up on every kiosk. A pro-Obama student with a signboard was in front of every major building, ready to help anyone get to the polls.

On that mile long walk, the entire evidence of the McCain GOTV effort was one white chalk "N" added in front of a single instance of the word "OBAMA" chalked on a walkway.

Update: With a little bit of luck, Tom Perriello will have UVa students, staff and faculty to thank for his seat as the VA 5th District congressman! He's currently down by a few hundred votes--0.36%, so there will be a recount. I'm unclear about whether the absentee and provisional ballots have been cast yet, either. I imagine that absentee will break for Perriello. Could be wrong about that.

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So, the new Marshal's Handbook is out.

Built up, laminated polearms are allowed in Atlantia.

I have an old polearm that has been on the shelf for oh, seven years. It got a bit flexible so I retired it, though it is still stiffer than a flyfishing pole.

So, today I took a spare scrap of rattan and shaped it for a slashing spear. I'll give it a try at practice Thursday.

Frankly, for all the "It is the user, not the weapon who is dangerous" noise I hear, I'm concerned that I may dent some helms, or worse, crack some collarbones with such a weapon.

But if not, proper handling and hard hitting might give my polearm skills a new boost.

Pics when it is out of the clamps.