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From the Chronicler
Meetings
Notes from June's Østgarðr Commons
Directions to August Østgarðr Commons
Upcoming Events
Local Activities
East Kingdom Events
Goings On About Town
Museum Exhibits
Concerts
Articles of Interest
Crusader-Era
Fortress under Siege Anew
Plumbing
the Source of English Town's Water Supply
Military
Kit through the Ages
For
Your Viewing Pleasure
Pennsic Reportage
Done Right
Guest Editorial
Musings
on a Garment Label
Pennsic is over for another year, and, from what we've
heard, it was a banner year for the folk of the Crown
Province. For the Seahorse Editorial Staff, the
combination of comfortable routines and new challenges
brought renewed enjoyment to an old favorite event.
Finding something to change up your Scadian life is always
a good idea. In the words of a certain hirsute,
antic-dispositioned Puck, "You're only given one little
spark of madness. You mustn't lose it."
June
Commons Minutes
Ostgardr Commons
June 20, 2014
Whyt Whey: funds from Cloisters demo have been
turned over to Og. Grant's Tomb fig practice
continues
Cloisters demo probably 9/28
Next mtg some time in July
Chatelaine: Demos at Enigma over; made
$130. They lost their lease, then regained
it. Planning embroidery & sewing; consider
other things
Gold Key: lots of stuff has been gathered together at
her place; sorted, washed, threw out some, still need to
make some tunics. Still welcoming contributions of
fabric & clothing.
Several newcomers.
Encouraging people to make stuff for War Chest
gifties. There's a points system, local branches
competing for bragging rights, etc.
Lions End: event 2/21: Lions Schola and A&S
Competition/Display. No feast, but dayboard
(Arnbjorg). Event announcement is in.
Archery: practices continue in SI (Sun), and in
Nassau (Sat), lots of people, lots of interest.
Mongo and Conor both got to the sweet 16 round for
K&Q's Champion.
Brokenbridge: Continuing to have A&S,
Cadfael, etc. No big news.
A&S: stuff happening in every Canton several
times a month. Lots of stuff was displayed at
AD/OG Challenge. Brewing competition, bardic,
etc. If you're teaching a class at Pennsic, post
to e-list & tell Lada.
Chronicler: Subscribe! Submit!
Web: EK is migrating people to new server.
We have login info, but haven't moved anything over yet;
pending round tuits and me talking to Norana.
Exchequer: have report from AD/OG
Challenge. Finance Committee decided that people
who bring munchies to a paid demo should be reimbursed
(arrange in advance). Got check from Riverfest and
check from Scandinavian Day. Dis.cussion of
receipts & reimbursements for Challenge. OG
has about $6K, BB has about $2K, etc.
Northpass: busy. Barleycorn coming up,
followed a week later by Thrown Weapons University
(expecting 60-70 people, no feast). Florence in
October. Had an impromptu archery practice in
Carmel; will be happening intermittently on
Saturdays. Dancing, brewing, rattan, etc. EK
Web transition has had hiccups.
Viceroy: we have some money; what can we usefully
do with it? Send wish lists.
Seneschal: Riverfest loves us; great demo.
AD/OG challenge: things went well, learned some lessons
about wrangling & cat-herding. Issues with
portajohns (they informed us with a week's notice that
flushies were out). Point total almost tied;
archery champions were exactly tied.
Upcoming events
Barleycorn: all major staff positions filled
except for brewing competition administrator; working on
this. Brewing competition will be indoors,
bug-free. Still need lots of general volunteers;
contact RTP.
Viceroy says don't want to do Provincial Champs at
Barleycorn: it's an RP, and want Provincial Champs to be
focus of event. Theme: Funeral Games for somebody
in the Aeneid (book 5). Most organizational
discussion will be on Northpass yahoogroup; will have a
F2F mtg between Pennsic & Barleycorn for last-minute
organization.
Musicians' Day: DP having surgery some time this
fall, don't know precisely when. May cancel the
event for this year.
Seasons' Beatings (full weekend!) in January,
probably 16-18th at Blue Mountain. Sofya running
it. Discussing fee structure (it's never been
overnight before).
Upcoming meetings: August 22 at office in Da
Bronx.
August Commons will be Friday, August 22nd (the 4th
Friday of the month) at the office of Eliot Engel,
3655 Johnson Avenue, the Bronx
By Car
From the South:
Best route to Henry Hudson Parkway in Manhattan.
Cross into the Bronx. Exit 20 for W. 239th
Street.
From access road, take first right onto Johnson Avenue
and look for parking.
The office is almost immediately there.
From the North:
Best route to Saw Mill Parkway in the Bronx (e.g.
heading south from the Cross County).
Two miles south of the Cross County, this becomes the
Henry Hudson Parkway.
Exit 19 for W. 232nd Street and make a U-turn onto the
Henry Hudson northbound.
Exit 20 for W. 239th Street.
From access road, take first right onto Johnson Avenue
and look for parking.
The office is almost immediately there.
Attention Fighters
There will be a fighter practice out on Long Island
on Sunday August 24, 9:30 assembly for 10:00
am start (down the block from Earl Sir Horic's house);
this is the FP not to be missed. If you have not been
invited yet please contact the Viceroy for an
invitation.
For more local events,
see here
for the on-line calendar.
We maintain a Webbed database of
upcoming early-music concerts in the Østgarðr area.
Click here
for the latest.
The Crac des Chevaliers outlasted Saladin's siege, but
has sustained damage in contemporary conflict.
A unique network of 14th-century water-supply
tunnels lies under modernday Exeter.
British photographer has recorded 13 displays of
personal "kit" for common English soldier at pivotal
battles through history
A Swedish documentary (allegedly with English subtitles) about
medieval reenactors
For the two or three of you who missed it, a Philadelphian
journalist spent a week at Pennsic, and wrote an article
about the War that is balanced, well-written and
entertaining.
Guest Editorial
Musings on a Garment Label
by Richard the Poor of Ely
I was ironing my clothes recently, as any good gentleman
would, when one of the labels caught my eye. These days
almost all labels include Spanish as well as English,
but this one had German as well. It read “100% Cotton –
Algodón – Baumwolle”. As I continued in my garment
maintenance, my mind wandered to how history and
language can influence each other.
In the Spanish term “Algodón”, one sees the Arabic
prefix “al-” coming before what sounds suspiciously like
a simple transliteration for “cotton”. That prefix turns
up in other words derived from the Arabic such as
“algebra” and “alcohol”, and means basically “the”. A
correct, literal translation of “algodón” would
therefore be “the cotton”.
Now how did an Arabic term find its way into Spanish?
Clearly, it had to come with Moslem armies who swept
across North Africa and then into Spain in the seventh
century, picking up cotton from Egypt (the major
producer of cotton in the era) along the way.
What about “baumwolle”, then? I know that the word
“baum” means “tree”, as in “tannenbaum”. A quick check
confirms that “wolle” is German for “wool”. So
“baumwolle” literally translates as “tree wool”. We’ve
all heard those myths and traveler’s tales from the
Middle Ages about the “Vegetable Lamb from Tartary” or
similar trees that somehow gave birth to sheep or geese.
But I also recalled that the cotton plant, as grown for
commercial cultivation, is pruned into a bush to make it
easier to harvest. If allowed to grow freely, the plant
can easily reach heights of over six feet. So if all you
know about cotton is that it’s a white fuzzy stuff that
comes from a tree and it makes a very good fabric, you
can be excused for calling it “tree wool”.
If you stop and think, there are quite a lot of medieval
holdovers in modern society, and not just in our
language. The movie “Iron Man 2” is essentially the
“Parzival” tale adapted for a contemporary audience. The
Eurovision Song Contest is basically the same thing as
those song contests from medieval France and Germany.
Once you start looking and noticing, you cannot help but
wonder just how much “re-creating” we are doing as we go
about our regular, daily lives.
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