pennsic

[syntonic_comma]

Today's (um, yesterday's) Classes:TimeSubjectInstructorDescription
09:00Circa 1200Her ladyship Katherine von Schlosservald, Gavin White of WestburghA glimpse of life in the 13th century of the "average person". View the personal effects of a peasant freeman's household in rural Yorkshire.
10:00Bodhran BeginnersMaster Phillip the PilgrimHands-on

Comments

[aome]

Solar-powered battery charging = WAY COOL.

What does the "sic" stand for in the name, btw? The "Penn" I get, given the location (although I don't know where in PA you were).

[realinterrobang]

It's actually Penns-ic, like "icthyic" or "catatonic" or "emphatic." I think "The Pennsish War" is too hard to pronounce. :)

[dglenn]

The etymology I've seen reported is that the '-ic' was an allusion to the Punic Wars.

The site is about an hour north of Pittsburgh, near Newcastle, Slippery Rock, Butler, and Zelienople.

[syntonic_comma]

On bing.com, searching for Pennsic, you were the 5th item!

Pennsic

(I've got my photos from 1997 through 2000 but have not had time to scan them yet. Financial limitations will unfortunately delay getting my film from 2001 developed for a while.)www.panix.com/~dglenn/events/​pennsic.html

[syntonic_comma]

You know you're major when Google Maps understands "pennsic".
And Google labels the camp roads with their Pennsic names.
The satellite photo is old enough to not have the Pilot gas station yet.

[aome]

Why is it called the Pennsic "war"? There doesn't seem to be any war reference anywhere in classes or activities.

[syntonic_comma]

What is Pennsic?
Pennsic is an annual event, in the guise of a "War", between the Kingdoms of the East and the Middle of the Society for Creative Anachronism. The scheduled activities include large melee battles, tournaments, archery, stage performances, dancing, and hundreds of classes on medieval topics. The marketplace has over 200 merchants selling a variety of wares.
The war is the excuse for this large gathering that happens to have all these classes and concerts (and parties) on the side. There's nothing about the War in my journal entries because I write about the things I see and do, and there's a whole lot of Pennsic that I've never seen. Yet.

[aome]

Ah! See, because you only seem to attend classes, perform music, shop and visit with people, I thought that's all there was! I had no idea that mock battle - or contests of any other sort - was anywhere part of this.

Btw, since RenFaire was invoked a few posts back - will you be attending this year? I think our girls are finally reaching an age where they might appreciate a daytrip to the PA Faire (~90 min away) but I'm not sure if we'll get there this year or not. Unfortunately, the PA Faire is a heck of a lot more expensive than the MD one. And not quite as good, either. :P