- Inigo Montoya
- You are using Bonetti’s Defense against me, ah?
- Man in Black
- I thought it fitting considering the rocky terrain.
- Inigo Montoya
- Naturally, you must suspect me to attack with Capo Ferro?
- Man in Black
- Naturally… but I find that Thibault cancels out Capo Ferro. Don’t you?
- Inigo Montoya
- Unless the enemy has studied his Agrippa… which I have.
And with this quote from The Princess Bride begins my look at the work of Camillo Agrippa, a Renaissance architect, engineer and mathematician who lifted fencing out of … read on »
Collegium-in-Armis, the German longsword group I fence with, is branching out into other weapons systems that fall within the German martial tradition. One of the guys has a thing for the dusack so this weapon has become the next in line to be studied.
This wooden or hardened leather weapon was used in two basic ways in the 14th and 15th centuries. First, it was used in the fencing schools as a way of introducing students who have learned the two-handed longsword to single-handed swords. Second, it was used by the town watch, particularly in eastern … read on »
I’ve finally found a way to manage the vast amount of RSS feeds I read on a daily basis: some are for work in order to keep up with developments in the IT industry, others are of merely personal interest. After trying many, many different feed readers, I’ve settled on Google Reader because I can use it at any of the numerous computer I encounter at home, at work and place in between.
(If you don’t know what RSS is, I reckon it’s time to stop banging rocks together in your cave-lair and drag yourself into the real … read on »
I just realised that it’s Sunday and I’m two days late in posting. The schedule may be meaningless and self-imposed but it quietens the stabby-stabby thoughts. And to get it out of the way: Christmas was great. Kathi and I spend it alone and reconnecting with each other. It’s been a very valuable time for both of us.
Now to television and the best sci-fi show you’ll never see: Defying Gravity. This show is just plain awesome, not least for being targetted at adults rather than teens, but also for not being a Star Trek clone. … read on »
Last night was the year’s last training session for the Australian College of Arms. Instead of regular training, some members of the Black Knights Fencing, a modern fence club, came for a visit and we mixed it up with them and had a great time. We played for a while with their weapons (epee and sabre) then they played with ours (rapier and side sword with an off-hand weapons for defense). It may come as a surprise to many that I’ve never actually done modern fence before. Wow! It’s fast. Very, very fast.
The big surprise weilding … read on »
I’ve been watching. And with watching come thinking. Which leads inexorably to blogging.
Paranormal Activity: This is a standout. Shot for US$15,000 and somehow managing to get a cinema release, this film is scary as hell, despite suffering from too much Blair Witch handycam camera work, precisely because of the low budget. Apparently, the filmmakers decided that because they had such a small budget they had to suggest the horror rather than spend their cash on special effects and such to show the horror. The film has nothing new to say but it … read on »
The funny thing about having time off work is that I completely lost interest in updating my blog. This may be because I lost all track of time and if it wasn’t for regular weekly events I wouldn’t have known what day of the week it was. But now that I’m back at work, these little updates seem to mean so much. I can’t even say that they’re a work avoidance technique since I generally don’t blog at work.
Four weeks away from the office allows you to really get yourself together and get all the things done that you’ve … read on »
The first week of my four weeks off work is almost done. I’ve gotten all the chores out of the way and from here on in it’s all gravy. Here’s a list of the highlights:
Sunday: At training, I took part in the second in a series of lessons introducing Meyer‘s dussack fighting style. The wooden dussack was used both as a training weapon for single-handed fencing and as a cudgel carried by the town guard, particularly in eastern Europe. The style is very quick and reminds … read on »
I’m still in the middle of contract disputes but both my contracting aganecy and the multinational I work at are looking after me. It’s rare to find the opportunity to say “Yay, big business!” but that’s what I’ve been doing this week.
I have four weeks off work starting at the end of today and, yes, it was planned. Now I’m starting to think of what to do during this vast amount of time to myself. There will be, of course, celebrations of Charlotte’s and Marianne’s birthday and a memorial something to remember their deaths. I’m coming to terms with this … read on »
