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A Balcony Bandit
Came home after dark and happened to look out the back door before turning on the lights. The balcony seemed to have acquired a lump. On closer inspection, it proved to be a huddle of grey fur, looking not unlike the dead raccoons you see by the side of the road. I was afraid some poor creature had crawled up there to die and I would have to ( Read more... ) -
Bad Swordsmanship, As Illustrated by Book Covers
When brand new students show up at AEMMA wanting to learn medieval swordplay, I often volunteer to be the person who takes them aside and shows them the basics. After two or three classes of personal instruction, they’re ready to join the drills with the rest of the recruits. Attempting to teach something really helps to clarify its underlying ( Read more... ) -
Back
I have The Big Project off my desk for the time being. I may even begin posting again, just as soon as I find out what the rest of the world has been doing while my head was buried in my laptop. -
The Magna Carta Essay: It's Still ALIIIIVE!
Back in 2005 I did an evil, evil thing. Discovering the proliferation of websites where student plagiarists could copy essays, I wrote a Trojan horse paper about the Magna Carta and seeded it on a few plagiarism sites. The essay is basically wrong from beginning to end. Amongst other silliness, it claims that King John's titles included Duke of ( Read more... ) -
Things Indonesian
Hmm, I've been neglecting this blog, haven't I ( Read more... ) -
Expanding my world
Know that between two knights the spear has four transitions and four thrusts, four parries and four [faces?], four cuts and four thrusts that don't count.
-Najm al-Din Ayyub Ahdab al-Rammah, 1238-1295The other day I said to Ali, a new recruit at AEMMA, "Hey, you must read Arabic, right ( Read more... ) -
Election
Well that was depressing. Back to the drawing board.
ETA: Holy #%&*! Mathieu Ravignat got elected! We have a swordfighting MP! RAH!*
*I can almost forgive him for being an NDPer -
The Pedagogical Hall of Shame
It's that time of year again. Behind friends-locks, graduate student blogs are brimming over with a year's harvest of bloopers from over-caffinated, under-slept students. You can find all the old favourites: Charlemange, Martin Luther and the Prostates, various people who "serviced" other people, and several ideas that would make interesting ( Read more... )
