WTF??

For those of you who do not yet know of Wikipedia (all three of you) I urge you to visit the site and then bookmark it. It is a great resource for all manner of information. Editable by all, constantly growing thanks to user contribution and available in several languages.

But there is a dark side to Wikipedia. As Stephen Colbert once said "Facts have a well known liberal bias". So some creative people have make Conservapedia. It's like Wikipedia, but without all the whacko, liberal, fact-checking hippies.

There's little I can add to this review by, of all people, a conservative. It'll give you a good chuckle. And if you're really brave, go take a look at the site for yourself. I did. Check out this tidbit about kangaroos:

Like all modern animals, modern kangaroos originated in the Middle East^[1] and are the descendants of the two founding members of the modern kangaroo baramin that were taken aboard Noah's Ark prior to the Great Flood.

Wow.

Guns.

An interresting link can be found at http://www.armedamerica.org/

It is a collection of photos and short stories about gun owners and their guns.

It's strange. One thinks of photos of armed men and women as a product of the past. Civil War soldiers and square jawed lawmen. Or maybe smirking gangsters or on the lamb bank robbers. But there are just ordinary people who happen to own guns.

I myself remain on the fence about guns. On the one hand I was raised on really cool gun fights. I like the technology and the artistry of the gun. I just wish that they were somehow smarter than the people that wield them. That they could somehow know when they were being handled by a six year old, or that the bearer was drunk or depressed. I'm a big believer in science. Maybe someday guns will be that smart.

I still don't own one. I've been tempted. But the responsibility of owning an object that can kill another person just by pointing it at them, either intentionally or unintentionally, is just too much for me. There's a ghost that haunt me whenever I look at a table of handguns. And in the end I say "Not today".

Pics of Paradise

Remember how I said that Arizona was one stunning looking fair? I took pics of the best looking booths for inspiration. If you want to see what Rennie Paradise looks like, here you go:

Arizona Ren Fair Booths

Amazing

If you haven't seen this ad yet, do it now. Yes, its for a shoe. But that doesn't matter because its really just a very short but very powerful movie.





I listened to hundreds of hours of Opera back when I was a butler and can identify quite a lot of it. But actual operas are really quite long and often boring. I'm sure they were the Lord of the Rings extended edition DVD's of their time. I'll take an aria here and an overture there but not an entire opera. That doesn't mean that this music isn't simply amazing, and when joined with these visuals the results are no less emotional than a full length movie. I actually wept when I saw this commercial. The story is told without words as they are unnecessary. Everything is there. You understand the emotions, motivations and pain of every face on the screen.

Nike has a history of making some kick ass commercials, such as the Demon Smiting Nike ad some years ago. Yes, it's as ad, but that doesn't mean it ain't art. If you doubt me, go check out the BMW short film series 'The Hire'. (sadly, only available on youtube instead of high quality video) They were actually better than several films that came out the same year. After one particularly aweful film I forced my friends to watch these films and they agreed that the films were better than what we had just seen (check out Powderkeg, its the best).

p.s. The song is Lacrimosa from Mozarts Requiem

Home again, home again...

Managed to pull the show out of the fire with some last minute sales. I enjoyed the warm Arizona days but it was time to go. The wind was kicking up and dust began once again to settle on everything. You constantly felt gritty. We packed up everything, handed our stock to the SCA UPS person praying that it would get delivered to a UPS store (UPS doesn't pick up at the site for some reason) and headed out.

On the way to the airport for our Midnight flight we visited the Arizona Ren Fair. Man, I work in a freakin ghetto. A slum. Ohio Ren? Great Lakes? They just can't hold a candle to this show. I need to get in there. Amazing grounds, stunning booths. Alas, we couldn't stay long as there was a road closed and we had to take a lengthy detour and did'nt want to risk getting lost.

Home now, safe but sick. Hack! wheeeeze.

Brutal

Midnight Madness today. 15 hours straight for so so sales. At least the night is warm. Tomorow we'll open for a few hours and try to pry a few last minute sales. Then we pack it all up. We don't fly out till midnight but it will still be a busy day tomorrow.

This show can do better, we just need to be in a better spot.

In some ways this event feels more period. Unlike Pennsic there is no barn, no Coopers house or other modern buildings in the merchant area. When I walked along the dusty roads today among the tents I could have been wandering the tent souks and markets a thousand years ago.

The mother of invention...

We're flying out soon and the last minute packing is almost done. Fly out shows are a bear. Weight is the enemy. Get the weight down while still taking enough to do the show. I ordered a heavy duty corset rack and will have it shipped right to the site. I plan on selling it after the event at a slight loss.

Then there were the 2 lightweight racks we use for skirts and shirts. I hadn't looked at them since last summer and when I did I found 1 piece of plastic missing, effectively making one rack useless. I went to buy another one at WalMart but it's no longer carried. The new cheapie racks suck. So it's off to the hardware store. Some copper tubing and a few conectors, about 20 minutes in the shop with a saw and a torch and the upgrade is complete. Didn't even set myself on fire. I added about 35 inches to the rack. Larger rack, fewer parts and everything will fit into the luggage.

I yearn for warmth.

My Clever plan....or not.

It seems that I now possess THREE pirate ships. Horay! That's a small fleet. Wohoo!

But wait, we seem to have a problem. These are a fairly low end radio controlled device, and as such, they all seem to operate on the same frequency, with no ability to select alternative frequencies. These ships won't fight so much as perform synchronised water ballet. Crap!

So now I need to crack one of them open to see if the chip that determines the ships control frequency can be swapped out. Any one here have a friend that knows about RC toys?

Ahoy! I needs a name!

My new Pirate ship needs a name! Can you help?

(When Rossana's arrives it already has a name "The Crimson Bitch Goddess")

Leave your ideas in the comments section.

Happy B-day to meeeeeee!

I am now officially somewhere about midway in this life journey thing. 39. This halfway point is of course based on things like statistics and science. I put little stock in these things.

The turnout for my party Saturday might be considered light, I myself consider it amazing considering that is was the most brutally cold day I have experienced in some years. I received several calls from friends letting me know that although they wished to attend, they did not possess the requisite treaded arctic snow crawlers or dog sled teams required to slog to Bag End in the midst of a blizzard. I understand completely and thank those who braved the horrible weather.

As can be seen from this picture I indeed received my much desired Pirate Ship and am told that another one is on its way from jolly old England. With two of these ships I shall rule the seven seas (or at least my pond). Now all I have to do is patiently wait several months for it to thaw....



Is it spring yet?

In attendance was Grimm, who is recovering well after having a large chunk of gut removed. Apparently some internal organ had gone rogue and was fighting a guerrilla war on his other organs, One surgical strike and the problem was taken care of. This did not stop me from trying to be helpful by scanning said gut for any surgical items that may have been left behind. Alas, nothing showed up so our chances of cashing in on some heavy litigation are almost nil.



Oh and my friend Ed has shown up my cool pirate ship by going and accidentally buying himself a Porshe on ebay. I am not sure how once 'accidentally' buys a speeding ticket machine such as this, you may want to take a gander at the blog he set up to document his own midlife crisis:
http://midlifecrisiscar.blogspot.com/

Much cake and pie was consumed, and on Sunday we went to the Home and garden show to look at things we can't afford. All in all, a very good weekend. Cheers all and thanks for the gifts.

Films

This has been a pretty damn good year for movies. I would highly recommend you direct your eyeballs to the following films if you can. If not in the theater, as the Gods intended us to see movies, then on DVD:

• Smokin' Aces - Its violent but its well done violence. Some great characters.
• Perfume - A wonderful period piece about a nasal savant. This film was a rich tapestry of filth. Great to watch and not predictable.
• Children of Men - Gritty dystopia fare that looks more like a documentary.
  
• Pan's Labyrinth - Wonderful and dark. A true old school fairy tale.
  

And now a tangent...

I watched Man on Fire last night and am still convinced that it is one of the best damn vengance films ever made. It's right up there with Tombstone in its sheer badassness. It came out at about the same time as The Punisher and although the punnisher tried to be hardcore, it failed miserably. It was standard action-film fare with stock bad guys and lots of explosions and gunplay blah blah.

Man on Fire takes place in Mexico City and feels real. It's shot in oversaturated colors with characters that are interresting, flawed and very himan. Denzel is great as a former military operative who drinks excessively and is obviously haunted by his past (although they thankfully do not give us the standard flashback scenes). Tony Scott, the director is guilty of over and undercranking the camera a bit much, and is guilty of using Opera (Pagliachi) in a scene where it was not needed. But it doesn't take away from the overall story. The soundtrack is awesome. Go rent this and tell me I'm wromg. Best vengance film ever.