Category: general

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A&S Journey general SCA

Order of the Maunche (100 Minutes War)

On Saturday, my family and I attended our first SCA event since the summer: Hundred Minutes War (and EK Novice Day), a fighting event sponsored by our local Shire of Rusted Woodlands. It was a fuller “family” contingent than usual: both of my teachers, Peregrine and Toki, joined us (the three of us have never been in the same place at the same time the whole while that we have been formally working together), as well as some of our Caer Cinniuint family, including the illustrious Rowan de la Garnison (who, along with her fellow matriarch Meirwen uerch Owein, had recently invited me officially to join my wife’s household).

It turned out they, along with some other dear friends, were there for a reason beyond the glorious late-fall day of fighting, or the several vigils and elevations that were scheduled. During court, their Majesties Ioannes and Honig called forth the Order of the Maunche. His Majesty Ioannes explained to the assembled populace that the Order was in fact short its full complement as he wandered into the aisle, and stopped in front of me with a mischievous grin.

For context, this is the highest Arts & Sciences award the East Kingdom offers short of a Peerage.

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general

Gentle reminder…

Gentle reminder of a few things:

  • Pretty much everyone you know was EXTRA CRISPY and EXHAUSTED as a near-permanent condition by January 1 of this year.
  • They (we) pretty much all still are.
  • Every one of you who is trying to be of service, by volunteering, creating things to make people happy, or just showing up to the things that are expected of you each day is MY F***ING HERO.
  • Try, when you can remember, to treat everyone you can with kindness.
  • That starts and ends with yourself.
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bardic concert First Bardic War general SCA

The First Bardic War (Upcoming)

On January 23 of this year, there was a wonderful Zoom concert called the Journeyman’s Concert hosted by the Midrealm, where I had the privilege to perform. This is coming to be known as The Concert that Started a War, because the couple dozen or so folks attending or performing in the concert, had a conversation that catalyzed the upcoming First Bardic War.

At the center of that conversation were Hilla Stormbringer of the Midrealm, who was one of hosts of the concert, and Laila al-Sanna al-Andalusiyya, former Queen’s Bard of the East, who had been performing. TLDR: There were a lot of Atlantian bards invited to a Midrealm event. The word “invasion” was used, followed by a discussion of holding the Atlantian bards for “ransom”, and the boast that if the bards of the East and Atlantia banded together, they could take over the known world… Within the hour, Hilla had posted in the SCA Bardic Arts group that she had instigated an “interkingdom incident”, and people were discussing a full-scale War event.

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general SCA

Settling in for the marathon

As of this weekend, I have been Queen’s Bard of the East for a full three months–a quarter of the year that champions are supposed to serve. I continue to be honored and deeply humbled at this opportunity, and recognize the good fortune and privilege that allowed me to compete and to serve. With that said, I need to level with you about something:

This position does not look like it did on the brochure.

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bardic general

#DollyPartonChallenge

Couldn’t resist.

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bardic general SCA

Wars of the Roses 2019

We got back late last night from Roses, and boy, is our everything tired. We’re a bit under-slept (which often happens, but a couple of unforced errors on my part made it worse than usual), yet at the same time my heart feels energized and refreshed, and my spirit is lighter and clearer than it’s been in a while.

In the SCA, the idea of going “home” to an event is bandied about a lot, and I’ve seen my share of backlash posts from people who object to the idea of an SCA event, particularly a camping event, as their home. Your mileage may vary. But returning to Concordia of the Snows’ big start-of-camping-season event (hosted by the Shire of Glenn Linn) really felt like a homecoming this weekend. The Albany area is generally a 2-3 hour drive for us, so we get up to the Barony less often than we’d like, and there are places closer to us that probably would welcome us and offer opportunities to do things we love to do…but ever since our first Roses six years ago (referenced in the opening verse of “Concordian Soil”, this has always been a place where we felt we really fit. And the Barony took the opportunity to remind us yesterday that the feeling is indeed mutual.

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general Pennsic

PSA – Vaccinations and Pennsic

I started something on Facebook this morning that has gone viral, with the help of some fearless and outspoken friends. It occurred to me (and I’m sure I wasn’t the first to think of it) that recent measles outbreaks, the direct result of a decades-long drop in vaccination rates, could seriously imperil Pennsic this year–and that further, there is something we can do about it in the next three months if we raise awareness. My wife and I got our MMR boosters a few weeks back.

A measles outbreak among a population of 10,000 people would do irreparable harm to the SCA, and all the communities we’d be returning to. When in doubt, get your MMR booster. And discuss this with your camp. Everyone who can be vaccinated should be, there’s no excuse.

Feel free to save and share. (But don’t have a cow about it.)

For those who say “Pennsic schmensic, people should be vaccinating anyway!”, I agree. But if this raises awareness and moves people to action by creating new urgency, then I’m all for it. Thanks to everyone who is participating in this effort, and to everyone who has posted or commented that they’re getting tested or getting a booster shot.

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general

Checking in…

I’m bummed to have missed Coronation, but I’m savoring this experience doing Drood. We close this coming Saturday, and after a nice long run, I’m going to be sad to see it end. I’ve found another family with this cast and crew.

But while I enjoy being a musical theater actor once more, and indeed this may be my favorite experience doing a show (which is not the same as it being my favorite show)…

In my heart I’m still a bard. And while I can be both, I have missed my other tribe. I’m looking forward to connecting with my SCA peeps again this coming month.

#firstworldproblems #knownworldproblems #broadwaygeekproblems

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general

Catching up

It’s been a busy month, but there haven’t been any big developments that felt like they were ripe to share in the bardic sphere. A bunch of things are going on that were, well, “bardic-adjacent”, or of some potential interest, or that involved bards. And there are some overdue updates I’m realizing I should have shared sooner. Sorry for running silent.

First off, I realized that I never posted about sending off the final official donation to the Therapeutic Nursery last December, honoring our two-year commitment to dedicate all proceeds from Hidden Gold to that worthy cause. The last $400 check brings our total donation to just under $2,000. (I reserve the right to make further donations if the album ends up raising enough additional funds to justify further checks, but have completed the pledge.) This was a project that was wonderful to see reach fruition.

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general

The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart

I got a rare treat of off-Broadway theater with the family today. We saw The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, a Scottish immersive theater production performed in a live pub setting at the McKittrick Hotel, the same location (and creative group) as the long-running Sleep No More, the interactive meditation on The Scottish Play. 

Prudencia Hart warrants a mention here because it concerns itself with a passionate if over-earnest young academic whose focus is Scottish border ballads, and “Tam Lin” gets not only name-dropped, but becomes intrinsic to the supernatural evolution of the plot. It was wonderful to see the show take swipes at academics who feel the need to analyze and deconstruct folk tales until they have lost all context and feeling, while Prudencia stands as the defender of these tales as art, as pieces of vibrant popular music. 

As a Scadian, as a bard, as someone with more than a passing interest in Tam Lin, I was mesmerized. As an American, I was overjoyed to see a postmodern and thoroughly cheeky and creative Scottish take on this subject matter. The cast of five was delightful and committed to both the silly and serious aspects of the story they were telling, and Jessica Hardwick, as Prudencia, was positively spellbinding. The entire ambiance of the thing delighted all three of us, as well as our friends who were happily able to join us. (I must once again acknowledge my debt to, yes, Ellen Kushner, who tipped us off about the show.)

The show is playing for three more weeks. If you have the time and the means, I recommend you run to see it like…(SPOILERS!) the Devil himself is chasing you.