Overdue Gulf Wars XIX Post

Sunday
After staying overnight in Jackson with Shimofuri on Saturday, we caravanned down to the site on Sunday to help set up camp. We arrived in the early afternoon, and I immediately joined in the raising of the kitchen/dining tent. Here I received my first injury of the war. The roof frame is made of fitted pipe sections, and I asked someone to push on the other end of one of the pipes as I was getting it fitted. The push came a bit sooner than I expected and my hand got pinched, so I went through the war with a bandage on the web of my right hand next to the thumb. Fortunately I was up to fencing by Wednesday.

Monday
Monday I found a very nice merchant who provided me with some tape to properly secure the bandage on my hand. That served me most of the day, and I obtained a small roll of tape from the chirurgeons to keep me going through the rest of the war. On top of that, Her Excellency Katherine got me some bactine, more bandages, and more tape. I was being positively doted on, but that suits me very well.

In the early afternoon, I went to the dance hall (Bede Hall) to help teach a dance class. This was simple 15th Century Italian dances: Amoroso, Petits Riens, and Anello. Since the planned teacher was unable to attend the war, Lady Sibyl was teaching, and I happily assisted. It's always nice to have some ringers when you're teaching a dance class.

Following the dance class, I ventured down to the Fort for the Verona Street Brawl. I wasn't up to fighting yet – just trying to hold a rapier hurt my hand – so I volunteered as a marshal. I don't think that brawls were quite as amusing as they were two years ago, when I last attended the war. The attempts to frame the other family were rather hamfisted, and the Governors were shamefully oblivious to the bloodbaths in the streets.

That evening I hosted the Beginners’ Ball. I planned it with lots of common, easy dances. Basically, if you didn't already know the dance, any ringer on the floor could drag you through it with minimal coaching. The list worked out quite well, if I do say so myself, as we worked our way through the dances at a steady pace and had plenty of time for requests before we had to close down the ball.

Tuesday
Early Tuesday afternoon I taught my dance class. This year I taught two variations of the Contrapasso. The standard variation is for a couples, and the Contrapasso Nuovo variation is for a set of three couples. Contrapasso itself is not really very difficult and the students learned it with plenty of time to spare. Contrapasso Nuovo is similar, but there are definitely some tricky maneuvers, and it has l5ess repetition, making it more difficult to remember. Fortunately Lady Ginevra assisted by providing live music; you can ask a musician to play just a particular section of the music, a request that recording just can’t seem to accommodate.

Wednesday
On Wednesday morning,I was up to fighting, and the Green Dragon Inn hosted a Tavern Brawl. Nothing rocks quite like a tavern brawl in an authentic tavern. Don Mateo organized several different scenarios, some involving just staying alive, others requiring an effort to loot the place. Some of the survival scenarios were real meat grinders.

In the afternoon, I competed in the Everyman Tourney. I didn't make it past my first round robin group, but it was a near thing. Three of us tied for second place, and we had to fight another mini round robin to see which two would progress. I had some really good fights in this tourney.

Thursday
Thursday morning was the Ladies of the Rose Rapier Tournament, and I again fought on behalf of Duchess Katrina. I don’t exactly have a stunning track record at the Rose tourney, but it’s always a fun time. The tourney had 110 entrants this year, which is a new record. I drew Don Iago for my first bout, and I actually dispatched him with surprising speed. I’m thinking of adding a white ribbon to my outfit every time I win a tournament match with a Don, now.

My second draw was Warder Sibyl Sevenoke, and I couldn’t have asked for a better second draw. Make no mistake: Sibyl is better than me at this game, but that makes the fight all the more fun. I am especially pleased by the fact that when she disabled my left hand with a cut to my thumb, she did not put down her own dagger; I like for my opponent to continue to treat me as a threat even after scoring a significant blow. She got my other arm a bit later, putting me out of the fight in a way that Joseph Swetnam – the historical fencing master I study – would definitely have appreciated (i.e., no one “died”).

I drew Lord Silvani for my final fight, and he’s definitely been keeping in better practice than I, too. I managed to stretch it out for a while, though, before being legged and then finally eliminated.

The schedulers moved the Rapier Field Battle up from Saturday to Thursday afternoon this year, and I turned out for it. We were fighting with Trimaris this year, and the first battle of the two-out-of-three contest was something of a cluster-fail. Meridies was positioned at the left end of the Trimarin line, facing the Hellhounds from Northshield. When the battle started, our front line ran out to make contact with the enemy while the rear ranks (consisting of some people who don’t move very fast due to knee troubles and such) closed at a slower pace. It’s not a good idea to take on the Hellhounds piecemeal; each little unit gets cut to shreds as it arrives. It would have been better to all march up at an even pace and make contact at full strength. Yes, I died pretty quick in that battle.

I’m not sure what the plan was in the second battle. After changing sides of the field, Meridies was on the right end of the Trimarin line, next to the Atlantians. When the battle started, the Atlantians quickly moved out and crossed in front of us to engage the Hellhounds while we looked for a place to reinforce. Our commander pointed out a thin spot for us to fill and I stepped into place to engage some Trimarins and Midrealmers. I soon noticed that our line was still pretty thin to the right of me; then it was also thin to the left of me; then I realized I was on my own against about six opponents. Well, I managed to keep them busy for a while and I got three of them, so I think I did my part pretty well in the second battle, but it was still an overall loss.

With the war point settled, round three was a “friendship battle” which my side won (due in no small part to the Hellhounds defecting to our side, I suspect).

Friday
Friday morning I took my camcorder down to Bede Hall, where the open A&S competition was taking place. I recorded the performing arts entries, and one of them is already posted to YouTube. Hopefully I'll get the others up shortly.

Later in the day there was a Ribbon Tourney, and I assisted as a marshal, as I was saving my energy for the Ravine Battle.

Like the Field Battle, the Ravine Battle was pretty lop-sided. I also couldn't seem to get any cooperation from my allies. On the way to the line, I'd ask the fighters on either side of me if they would take shots if I blocked blades, but when I knocked blades down, the shots didn't materialize. I eventually gave up on that and decided to just cause a bit of havoc, and I actually did get into the enemy backfield once, killing several of their fighters in the process. Moments like that make the whole tiresome business worth while.

Saturday
Rain was threatening Saturday, and I really didn't want to pack a wet tent, so I broke camp early in the day, did some final shopping, and for the first time at Gulf Wars, I actually left site early.

Gulf Wars XIX

Yes, I did return from Gulf Wars... I am being slack about posting. Please be patient.

More Unscientific Idiocy

Ray Comfort responded to a comment from one of his critical readers, and the response is just amazingly dumb. The original comment was...

Ray you don't know the first thing about science. You're the guy who thought falling violated Gravity.

And Ray's response...

Physics.about.com says: "Newton's law of gravity defines the attractive force between all objects that possess mass. Understanding the law of gravity, one of the fundamental forces of physics, offers profound insights into the way our universe functions." So, I’m not the only one who believes that there is such a thing as "the law of gravity," and if it's a law, it can be violated.

If you hit the ground at 120 mph from 1,000 feet, you will suffer the consequences of violating what physics.about.com calls the law of gravity. If you will remember the context in which I called gravity a law--I said that if you break the law of gravity, you will suffer the consequences...."

I've discussed scientific laws and theories before, and I think I was actually a little off the mark then. I've since been told that a "law" describes a mathematical relationship. The "Law of Gravity" is a mathematical formula that you can use to calculate exactly how quickly two massive objects will accelerate toward each other. The "Theory of Gravity" is an effort explain how and why that acceleration occurs. There is no denying that acceleration due to gravity occurs, but physicists are still working out the mechanism. Similarly, the Theory of Evolution is an effort to explain the how and why of the process of evolution. That evolution occurs is only doubted by science denialists like Ray Comfort.

Make no mistake, though. You can not violate the law of gravity. If you fall from 1,000 feet, you will not suffer the consequences of violating the law of gravity: you will suffer the consequences of obeying the law of gravity.

Ray goes on to try to turn it into a sort of parable, but it's a parable built on a false premise, so it falls flat.

Because I like Symphony of Science

Black Gryphon 2010

Just a few pictures from the event. Many wonderful classes were enjoyed by all, I think.

Do Cats Play With Their Food?

Why yes... yes... they do.


For those who never heard the tale, we got Mauser to dispose of mice in the barn. She is a cat picked specifically to be "a hunter who isn't too social with people."

When first released in the barn, she immediately ran off, and we wondered if we'd ever see her again. She didn't seem to be eating cat food left for her at the barn, but the mouse population did seem to be in decline. We later decided she was using it as bait.

Eventually she reappeared when some of our friends were over helping us build a bonfire. Since then, she's been a surprisingly social cat. She doesn't like to be picked up, but she will run in front of you and lay down for you to rub her belly.

And she's death on a stick to field rats, rabbits, birds, lizards, and just about anything else she can catch.

Incidentally, this is my first real success at video editing. Go me.

Dubious Email

What a surprise! I apparently won some kind of contest that I didn't even enter!

NOTICE.

You have receive this notification because this email account (address@server.net ) was enter as a bonified winner in the Euro Million online promotion draw with a prize benefit of (€510.250 Euros). If you are the owner of this email (address@server.net) and you wish to claim this prize, please contact Mr. Phillip Sillas for more information to claim your Euro Million Prize.

You are to present these Coupon Numbers: EU/3544-2100-10SP for identification along with your Name, Age, Sex, Occupation, address and phone number.

Sincerely,
Mr. Phillip Sillas,
E-mail: imperiosp@aol.com
(Public Information Officer)
mutuals.sp@gmail.com
Central Promotion Dept.

No. I don't believe this for a second. This is either an identity theft scheme or an advance fee fraud or both. Tipoffs include...

• No branding of any sort on the email. While corporate logos and such don't guarantee legitimacy, lack of them is a pretty solid indicator of a scam. If there were really a half-million Euro prize, someone would have to be bankrolling it, and they wouldn't do it without recognition.
• No web link. A link is no guarantee of legitimacy either, but at least it would be something that could be investigated. Practically every modern company with an email address also has a web page, so this is super suspicious.
• The email addresses of the contacts are all generic services. An outfit with a half-million Euros to spend on a contest can afford its own domain name and use it in its correspondence. The source address of the email doesn't even match the contact addresses in any way.
• Shoddy spelling and grammar. You'd think scammers would have learned to use spell-check by now.

So, this is obviously a fraud of some sort. It will get no response from me (except weblog ridicule).

Tortellini Pulpo

Okay, I'm mixing terms from different languages that may not go together, but they're the labels on the ingredients, so we'll just deal with them.


This is my second go at making a dish with Vigo brand Spanish octopus ("pulpo" in the Spanish portion of the label). The ingredients here are pretty simple.

• 1 can of Vigo Spanish octopus
• 1 can of diced tomatoes with Italian herbs
• one quarter of a yellow onion, diced
• about a tablespoon of olive oil
• about a teaspoon of minced garlic
• extra basil, salt, and pepper to taste

I started by sauteeing the onions in garlic in olive oil over medium heat. When the onion was translucent, I added the octopus, salt, and basil for a quick saute. Next, the tomatoes and tortellini went into the pan, which I covered to allow the (frozen) tortellini to thoroughly defrost and heat up.

Custom Hand Phaser

It's interesting, but I don't think I'd want anyone to point it at me. In the construction tutorial, the maker explains that getting shot in the eye with the beam or a reflection would be bad.



Heck, if you can pop balloons with it, I don't even think I want that dot on my skin, let alone my eye.

Debating Creationists

Ever wonder why scientists are reluctant to debate creationists?


That's a pretty good representation. I don't think the creationist playbook has changed in my lifetime.

Zero Emissions?

I don't really want to knock Nissan for trying to develop an efficient, low-pollution vehicle, but I think their advertising campaign is overstating things just a little bit. I copied the image to the right and the following claim from their FaceBook fan page for the LEAF:

Nissan LEAF is our first zero-emissions electric car. Don't confuse it with a hybrid or any other type of gas-powered, eco-friendly vehicle. This is electric - 100%. That means it burns zero gas and produces zero emissions. But this is no golf-cart. Off the line, Nissan LEAF performs like a V6. Plus, there's room for five, and it comes with all the quality, reliability and versatility you've come to expect from Nissan cars.

- Zero tailpipe emissions
- 100% electric -- no gas required
- Competitively priced
- Speeds up to 90 mph
- 5 passengers, 5 doors
- Advanced airbags, premium audio, Nissan navigation system, and more

I emphasized the claims that really interest me here. While the statements are technically true, they're also misleading. The LEAF, as stated, is a fully electric automobile. While that means that it doesn't burn gasoline or diesel fuel, it doesn't mean that operating the car results in no pollution. Apart from the manufacturing process (which may or may not be less polluting than building a gas automobile, I really don't know), this car could easily have a larger "carbon footprint" than a gas-powered car.

The reason, of course, is that you have to recharge the LEAF's battery, and the car's true "emission" level is going to depend on what kind of power source you use to charge it. If you happen to be getting your electricity from a solar, wind, or hydroelectric generator, then the LEAF really does have essentially zero emissions. On the other hand, if your electricity comes from a coal-fired power plant, then operating the LEAF will probably be at least as polluting as an efficient gas automobile.

I'm actually a big fan of this kind of technology, but I'm not a fan of tricky advertising. Electric cars have great potential for reducing pollution, but the power infrastructure has to support that effort. I happen to also be a big fan of nuclear energy, so I don't think it would be that hard to change the grid to support a less polluting vehicle "fleet" in the US. Of course, electric vehicles can also reduce America's need for imported oil, which is another good argument for them. I just wish the claims in Nissan's advertising were a little less grandiose. Not that they're alone in such statements; I've heard similar claims about the hydrogen fuel cell technology that's in development (from the mouth of George W. Bush, no less), and they have exactly the same issues.

Sarge's Shack

This is somewhat overdue, but William, Juliana, and I stopped at a little roadhouse called Sarge's Shack both going to and returning from Magna Faire.



Sarge's serves a pretty standard "roadhouse" menu of steaks, chicken, and fish dishes with southern country sides. The beauty is that it's all good. On the way down, I ordered a pretty small steak medium rare, and when I first saw it I was worried that -- being on the thin side -- it would be overdone. Nope, it was a perfect medium rare. The cooks at Sarge's absolutely know what they're doing. If you're traveling between Nashville, TN, and Huntsville, AL, Sarge's Shack is an excellent place to stop for lunch or dinner.

I took pictures on our second stop, on the way back from Magna Faire for Sunday lunch, so -- unfortunately -- no steak pictures.

Dickens Festival

Franklin, Tennessee has a Dickens festival every year. Last year I drifted in by accident because I wanted to have lunch at McCreary's Pub. This year, I actually planned to attend (and dressed warmly enough). Like most street festivals, this one has food vendors, art and craft stands, and street performers, like this handbell choir...



In addition to the video, I took some ordinary pictures of the festival, too. Didn't seem as crowded this year; possibly a combination of the gloomy overcast and it being Sunday instead of Saturday.

A Brief Moment of Idiocy from Ray Comfort

Much like Allecto, Ray Comfort is a train wreck that I can’t help watching. Unlike her, he produces a steady stream of nonsense, so I don’t really have to wait very long for him to say something absurd and irrational. I’ve found it mostly pointless to post responses on his weblog, since he almost never bothers to address any of the points people make, so I'll contribute to my blog instead of his.

The Religion of Evolution

I was asked recently during an interview if I thought that the Theory of Evolution was a religion. I said that I think it is.

Cue Ray projecting like a movie theatre.

If evolution is responsible for everything that has evolved--everything, then it is worthy of praise. What it did was miraculous, and time is the miracle-method it used. Its prophet was Charles Darwin (the faithful can pay homage to his facial hair in the Natural History Museum, in London), and Richard Dawkins is the sitting pope.

Worthy of praise? No one who accepts the Theory of Evolution thinks it's worthy of “praise”. It’s worthy of recognition for its accuracy, which means that it has earned its place in classrooms. You could call that “praise”, I suppose, but it's not what Ray's talking about.

Charles Darwin was not a prophet; he was an ordinary naturalist who made an observation and happened to publish his discovery before anyone else. He didn’t ask people to believe him on faith, he showed them the evidence he had collected and explained the conclusions he’d drawn from it.

Richard Dawkins is not a religious figure; he’s an advocate for scientific thinking. As far as I can tell, Ray has ever experienced scientific thinking, which might explain his endless misunderstandings of the thought process.

According to his decree, if you disagree with the canon of evolution you are "wicked." So those who don't believe, should therefore be excommunicated from the realm of science.

Dawkins does not make “decrees” that people are wicked for disagreeing with evolution, but he’s not shy about criticizing people who lie about evolution, as many creationists routinely do.

The "Bible" of the Darwinian believer is On the Origin of Species. If you write a mere Introduction that disagrees with its sacred contents, it is tantamount to blasphemy. Be prepared for an inquisition from believers and threats of book burnings.

There is no more a “Bible of Evolution” than there’s a “Bible of Newtonian Physics”. The Origin of Species just describes the theory as Darwin developed it, and evolution theory has changed over time as new information has become available. It’s historically important for being the first published description of the theory, but it's not some kind of unchangeable scripture. If you write an introduction that disagrees with it, that’s your business, but if your introduction is full of misinformation and long-refuted claims about the theory and about science in general, people are going to call you out on it.

So, if you believe in evolution, don’t question dating methods, or the credibility of revered paleontologists, or the learned priestly professors.

Actually, if you believe in evolution, feel free to question any of these things (although you’ll be hard pressed to find a “priestly professor” outside of a theology department), but actually learn what the theory says before you start criticizing it. If you question seriously and actually do the science, you’ll come to the same basic conclusion: the Theory of Evolution accurately describes how the diversity of life on Earth developed from a common origin.

Just believe.

That’s what you do, Ray.

Magna Faire 2009

Well, I have a day off today, so I suppose it's high time I at least posted some pictures from Magna Faire. Magna Faire was essentially an all-dance event for me, as I didn't think I'd have time to get in and out of armor around performance times.



Yes, we had live music for the ball. Very good for three musicians who had never played a note together before, if you ask me.

I have video my entry with Juliana, but I'm waiting to do a little editing before I post it.

Science vs Superstition

OK, I'm not using the same terms as the video author, but I completely agree with the sentiments.



If you're reading this, you do so because scientists are right about electromagnetism, chemistry, and mathematics. Think about it. If you spent money for a computer, you're trusting in the science used to design them. If you trust them on that, do you have a good reason to arbitrarily distrust scientists in other fields of study?

Science has a track record of success to which pseudoscientists try to attach themselves like leeches. Meanwhile, people who don't like the information that science discovers try to undermine it. If it gets undermined enough, civilization as we know it will collapse, and we'll descend into a new dark age.

Legomatrix

I agree with Amy: this IS awesome.

A Quote About Life and Evolution

Even a superficial glance is sufficient to show that all the innumerable forms in which the life-urge of Nature manifests itself are subject to a fundamental law -– one may call it an iron law of Nature -– which compels the various species to keep within the definite limits of their own life-forms when propagating and multiplying their kind.

If you can tell me who wrote that, you're probably not a raving creationist.

Ghost Lab: It's Lame

So, in the pursuit of "puppy time" last night, I lazed on the couch and watched half of an episode of Ghost Lab. Yep, it's basically Ghost Hunters on Discovery.

They were at a restaurant called the Catfish Plantation south of Dallas, TX, that supposedly has a few ghosts in it, one of whom reportedly likes to move small objects. Consequently, they had high hopes for filming some objects "moving by themselves". As many cameras as they put in the house, they never managed to actually film anything moving itself, but naturally they had an array of "personal experiences". They also got a couple of odd visuals that couldn't actually be called evidence of supernatural activity, but which they considered pretty spooky all the same. Big surprise that people who are already believers have "experiences" in a supposedly haunted restaurant while staying up all night inside it in the dark.

Since the ghost has a reputation for moving silverware when you're not looking, they carefully set the tables in the restaurant dining room. A couple of times the flatware did move "when no one was looking" (and naturally the cameras were off at those times, too), but there was never a time when anything moved when there was actually no one in the room, let alone when being observed by a camera. Funny, that.

The "moving things" that they did catch? A butter knife that they'd balanced on top of a vase eventually fell off while they were interviewing the restaurant manager on the last day, and a door at the edge of a dark shot of the dining room appeared to be moving back and forth slightly. The door? It looked like a camera artifact to me: bad resolution combined with being at the very edge of the frame resulted in an unsteady image. The knife? The minor vibrations of people walking around the room could easily destabilize something like that over the course of hours.

In short, they got nothing (which they admitted) and called it a win (huh?). I called it quits after the first segment. As expected, their efforts at control were really, really weak, and they were steeped in confirmation bias. It rates a big "ho hum" from me.

Crystal Ball

Sadly, I didn't get a whole lot of pictures from Crystal Ball because, during the dinner break between class time and ball time, I left my camera at Tsire's place. I do have a few pictures from the early part of the day, but nothing very exciting, with the possible exception of this video from Mistress Alphia's Spanish Pavan class.


She graciously consented to doing it with me for video after teaching it. Spanish Pavan is from Orchesography, Thoinot Arbeau's 1589 dance manual from France. I haven't gone back to read the original text yet, but I gather that the actual choreography isn't specific; Arbeau only describes the music and the basic steps: the actual movement around the floor is arbitrary. This choreograph is, I believe, from a team A&S entry of Alphia's.