How I got my butt kicked in a board game 2000 years old.

So... I recently joined a group of Viking re-enactors at our local ren-fest, and during my first day as a Viking, I went from being in the queen's guard to being the guy in charge of the ancient board games.  I immediately realized that, unlike popular opinion, the vikings were not dumb giants with axes and boats.  They played strategy games that rival chess in complex strategy & difficulty, and this has led me to conclude that they were actually quite clever.  Anyways... I spent about 5 hours teaching the patrons these viking games.  And I lost just about every game.  By the end of the day, I had only won a grand total of 5 games.

Woop-dee-doo, I suck at strategy games.
See ya 'round.

So now we buy a not-crappy sword.

So yeah.  I found a quality sword, and I think I'm gonna go for it.  It's a Windlass, which is one of the oldest sword companies still manufacturing.  The steel is something like 1060 springsteel, although it could be carbon steel.  not sure which yet.  The only problem I've heard pertaining to this sword is that Windlass blades tend to be a tad whippy, meaning it acts less like a bar of steel, and more like a pool noodle.  But I'm not too concerned about that.

On a side note, I'm this [            ] close to fixing my previous attempt at a sword.  You remember... that crappy one that broke in my last post.  Well, I've almost got it presentable again.  And then it will go on display in my room and will have it's own personal "do not touch" sign.

So... until next time, Thanks for reading etc etc.

Never buy a crappy sword.

EVER.  I mean that.  Just today, I went and bought a nice looking sword at a local ren-fest, but in my excitement, (buying swords is exciting) I forgot to treat this certain wallhanger like a wallhanger.

Note for those of you unfamiliar with sword terminology:  Wallhanger means any sword that looks really cool, but if you try and swing it, it falls apart in your hands.

Thus, half an hour after getting home with my newly bought shiny sword... it came apart and I discovered that it was designed in such a way that it couldn't be repaired.  So... I am now faced with the problem of constructing a brand new hilt to attach to the still-shiny blade.

And the moral of this story is this:  Never, ever, ever, evereverevereverever, ∞, buy a crappy sword, unless it's going straight into an air-conditioned, vacuum-sealed, anti-rust display case.

Old Man's War

Well, it's been a while since I posted here, but I can honestly say it's not my fault.  I blame my internet connection, which won't ever let me login on account of there being "an insecure connection".  It doesn't matter how many times I've tried it, or how many settings I've changed, it always says the same thing.  So, here I am, posting on a different computer with a different server, etc. etc. etc.

Anyways... Old Man's War.  What did I think of this book?  I. Loved. It.  Awesome book with an interesting universe containing a myriad of species and technologies.  The plot is fast paced, and written in such a way that I almost literally could not put the book down.  At first glance, it seems almost the stereotypical "mankind colonizing the universe" ordeal, but a few pages in, we're at odds against some 600 other races, all after the same planets we're after, and instead of your typical army, our space military consists entirely of old people.  No offense to said old people, but when your youngest recruit just turned 75 a week ago, it doesn't make much sense.  Now I don't want to spoil how all that works, so I'm just gonna skip ahead a few chapters.

(flips past a few pages)  Um... Ah, here's something that won't spoil too much plot.  Technology & You!

The tech we possess in these books (yes there are 4 books)  is just amazing.  First off, the human soldiers  all have computers in their heads, referred to as BrainPals.  Yes it's a cheesy name, moving on.  These BrainPals allow the soldiers to communicate silently, access information at any time, without doing anything physically.  They can watch movies while running through a forest, listen to music underwater, etc.  But what really interested me wasn't their BrainPals, it was their weapons.  Their "rifles", instead of being just that, are more accurately described as a "rifle/shotgun/automatic/grenade- and rocket-launcher"  All out of the same block of ammo, too.  The gun's firing mode is selected via brainpal, and then it machines the ammo right into the chamber.  The ammo block itself is actually just that:  a block of metal.

So, anyone else interested yet?
Until next time, thanks for reading.

Ranger's Apprentice

Set in a medieval kingdom, the story follows an orphan with dreams of becoming a knight for the local Baron.  Theres only one problem though:  He's too small.  However, it's this very trait that qualifies him for another life in service to his country.  The Rangers.  Believed by many to practice black magic and possess inhuman powers, they are the elite of the King's army.  But the orphan, Will, soon discovers that this is not the case.  Instead of practicing dark arts, he soon finds himself practicing archery, a skill only used for hunting.  Will soon learns that what most people think of as magic is simply unorthodox skills put to good use.

Such as archery.  Mostly used for hunting, many people believe the arrow to be useless against armor.  Except when a Ranger puts an arrow through the one-inch-square eyehole on a helmet.  The Rangers are also the first to fully exploit camouflage, wearing mottled green and grey cloaks which often look stupid, but enhance their trained ability to blend in with the terrain and shadows, making it seem as though they can walk straight through walls and rise from the ground at a whim.  They also carry two knives of uncommon shape, making them rather unwieldy for the common person, but a skilled Ranger can defeat the greatest swordsman with these knives.  They're also perfect for throwing.

I'd rate this series with an 9/10, the only problem being that it's kept in the children's section of my local bookstore.

Throwing Knives

Well, I finally did it.  I've gotten the rotation distance down for both of my throwing knives.  This has been rather a challenge for me, as they had different throwing styles and distances for the longest time.  But the wooden handle recently fell off the smaller one, changing it's balance (all important here).  Now they're both the same rotation distance and throwing technique.  All I have to do now is work on my aim.

Unstoppable Horde of Reavers vs. Immovable Psychic Warrior

Awesome show I've become a fan of recently, called Firefly.  Kinda a space-steampunk-cowboy-swashbuckling-pirate-rebel bundle of awesomeness.  It's only fourteen episodes long, ending with the fifteenth segment as a full-length movie titled Serenity.  The pro's and cons are that it has a decisive ending, but the story is over rather quick.  Quite funny, with a good bit of action, drama, and intrigue to balance things out.  

The story is set in the future, where the Earth's resources have been used up, forcing the Human race offworld.  We discovered a new Solar System, with dozens of planets, and hundreds of moons.  They terraformed most of these worlds, and spread across the whole system.  The central planets, those with the most sophisticated technologies, formed a systemwide Alliance, and warred to bring everyone under their rule.  A few governments and militias disagreed, and fought to remain independent.  They were inevitably crushed.  The series starts approximately six years later, following a former militia sergeant, now the captain of a Firefly class transport christened Serenity.  He picks up a rather ragtag group of misfits for a crew, and runs jobs for people needing a ship.  He doesn't much care about the nature of the work, as long as it pays well, and doesn't overly endanger his crew.

And that's just the intro they play before the theme song.

As for the title of this post, you'll have to either watch the show, or look it up on Wikipedia and read the ending.  I'm not gonna post any spoilers.  Ha ha ha.......