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Imponderable #27: Olympia Washington

16 Dec

December 16, 2011

Stop right there, this story had me at the headline.

In order to discipline his daughter, a man made his 16 year-old girl to put on medieval armor and engage him in a two-hour sword fight.

HUZZAH!

I can’t help but think that if the man were a stamp collector the worst his daughter would had was a dry tongue after a marathon session of licking stamps.

The Father of The Year of 1608 was booked on “suspicion of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon.” I’d say that’s an open and shut case.

But aside from the horrible battle/abuse, what is up with all the Renaissance Fair love? Ever been to one? Lots of people saying “thou” and “m’Lord.” People with stupid leather mugs. And OK, maybe the jousting is fun, but you watch it, not perform it. On the other hand, most people are just there to drink beer. And I like going to Medieval Times once every year or two, but would you make every day a visit to a time when the Black Plaque competed with horse manure to see which one was more plentiful?

My only worry is how do we punish that guy? Put him in jail? The guy is a gladiator. He’d love the prison lifestyle. I say we put him in a pink room with stuffed bunnies and force him to have a tea party with a bunch of adult babies.

Spotlight: Nutty Nuchtchas

28 Nov

November 28, 2011

Nutty is a New Yorker turned Canadian, and road warrior. She visits more conventions per year than a former Star Trek cast member, but, despite her busy schedule, she manages to find time to make excellent contributions to the Beyond The Wall podcast (http://specficmedia.com/category/podcast/beyond-the-wall/) and SciFi Dig (http://www.scifidig.com/index.php?s=Digger+Chat), as well as produce her own monthly show of geek news and reviews, Nutty Bites (http://nimlas.org/NuttyBites).

She also creates art, comics, and cosplay pieces – info on all of which you can find at her site, http://nimlas.org

As is often said, no one is allergic to Nutty.

In a piece that is prefectly apt for this time of year, she hits the nail on the head of something I am sure we all noticed but takes it in a direction all her own.

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Is it just me, or has every holiday gotten bigger and bigger each year? Christmas is being advertised before Thanksgiving, there are isles in almost every store dedicated to Halloween, there are even Halloween greeting cards. The icons and symbols of each Holiday are being used to promote it and to sell the holiday. People used to do lights on their house for Christmas, now there are lights and decorations for Halloween and Easter too.

Now don’t get me wrong, I like a good bit of escapism as the next person. I talk like a pirate on September 19th, I carry a towel on May 25th and I say May the Fourth be with you. I like holidays and I will cling at even the made up ones to get my escapism on, it’s fun and it’s a way to add whimsy into everyday life.

What I’m curious about is what happens next? As the holidays grow larger and the symbol of the holiday (Santa, a Turkey, an Easter Bunny, a Shamrock) becomes more representative of what the holiday is about as opposed to the roots of the tradition, how will this evolve in the future?

I take you to 500 years in the future where you wake up to eat a green shamrock shaped food substance and go to work in your green bowler and everything you see that day is green. Your car is green, the streets are green, it’s like driving through emerald city (without the horse of a different color.) Everything is green until the next holiday, let’s say it’s Simpson’s Day, because of course by then the Simpsons will have historical status. Now you have painted your body yellow and dyed your hair blue. Your care is a garish cartoon color and your food resembles a cartoon donut. Everyday a holiday steeped in traditions you don’t understand so then there isn’t a special day that goes by.

Or, does this world I have projected sound like fun to you? I can say I’m not attracted to the idea of living in the Simpson’s world for a day or two.