Ansel Rowland Matthews Journal

Book Meme

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:56:37 GMT

Taken from colin_g ,

Book Meme
* Grab the nearest book.
* Open the book to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

"Once an organization fails to respond to a changed environment, it becomes increasingly hard to recapture its lost position." --Marketing Management by Kotler and Keller (2008)

Not that interesting, but good useful insight anyhow.

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:46:44 GMT

I was reading colin_g's post yesterday on McCain's withdrawal from the first Presidential debate with Obama tomorrow, and it got me thinking...

--Ansel gets up on his soapbox--

In my opinion, the reason that Obama is viewed more strongly on economic policy than McCain is that many Americans are ignorant as to how the deficit got so large, and they want to point a finger at Bush--it's the GOP that put us all in this mess, and it's time for reform--right? The truth of the matter is that the national deficit has been approximately following the same linear slope since the end of WWII--this is apparent when the deficit is plotted in a log scale because it gets rid of all of the noise (so to speak) and focuses on the signal.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, go to: http://www.cedarcomm.com/~stevelm1/All_US_Debt.png

Personnally, I feel that there must be a demand that governments pay as they go, and that administrations that derive the benefit of spending public money must also assume the unpopular duty of raising the money they spend. But this has not happened in the US since the days of Andrew Jackson (who hated banks and got the national deficit down to $18,000 before leaving office), which is one of the reasons that our deficit has increased everytime there is a war--we just go on living life like normal (for the most part), and figure we'll pay for it later.

Talk to anyone who has family that lived in Europe during and after WWII, and contrast that with those who lived in America during the same time period, and you will quickly be able to determine some key differences. Our European friends tended to ration water, gas, food, etc. even after the war was over and their governments no longer required it (they had become so acustomed to the rationing that it became second nature), but most Americans got over the war, and came home to start anew--the war gave way to the Baby Boom and the fabulous fifties (the war deficit was never taken care of). I'm not pointing a finger (similar actions were taken after WWI, Civil War, etc.,), I am just highlighting the fact that the debt was never paid, and sooner or later it will have to be dealt with.

This country has a habit of going to war, coming home, and starting fresh (without necessarily taking care of the past). We are once again a nation at war; the War on Terror is not like the great World Wars of the past when we talk about scale, but it is much greater on the side of complexity. After 9/11, the world was pretty much behind the US is bringing the perpatrators to justice, and in attempting to do so, we discovered that the "perpetrators" were all over--the network of those responsible for terror in the world ran broader and deeper than anyone initially expected--we could not just go in and get Osama, and consider ourselves done--we learned as we went, and found out that we needed to expand our initial scope of operations, we have been trying to break down all of the state and non-state actors that contribute to this network, and it is tough. But, because this is the long-war, and we, as a nation, have been "over it" for awhile, we are trying to start fresh again without dealing with the fact that we still have obligations for what happened 7 years ago.

Personnally I applaud the current administration for not following the same huge spending patterns that have been seen during every other war this nation has fought. But, we still need to deal with the past debts--debts that have been around since before any of us were born. The words of Balian of Ibelin (Kingdom of Heaven) are as applicable here as they were in the defense of Jerusalem from the Muslims: "We fight over an offence we did not give, against those who were not alive to be offended."

Sooner or later the debt is going to have to be paid, we can face it now, or let our children deal with it years down the road, but reality must be faced. Keep this in mind when we look at either candidate and think who is going to help the economy.

--Ansel gets down off his soapbox--

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:32:37 GMT

As cathgrace stated in her post on Saturday, Pennsic was full of excitement and drama.

We got home from the West Kingdom Viking Luau on Tuesday night, and were not in camp for more than a few minutes when Duke Valharic showed up asking to talk with me. So, on 5Aug08 at 11:12pm I found out that cathgracewas going to be elevated to the Order of the Laurel. I was extremely excited, and grateful to hear that our friends at Vair & Ermine had volunteered to take care of all the details of the vigil and stuff ( pinkleader, blueleader, greenleader, attack_laurel, and everyone else in that camp: You Guys ROCK!!!). Her vigil started after Atlantian court (at about 8:00pm) and went until we cut it off (at the first break in the line) at 1:00am Thursday morning. Back to camp (Lochac) to collapse for a few hours to return to Vair & Ermine for the 9:00am elevation ceremony (that made 34 hours total from finding out until elevation, and I am still in awe at the work that everyone did to make this such a special time for cathgrace).

The ceremony was beautifully conducted by sinclairhawkinsand wife Kari (Atlantian Monarchs), and also attended by Artemisian and West Kingdom Crowns. The most bestest of all, however, were the words spoken by the worthies: Duchess Arielle for the Pelican, Duke Valharic for the Knights, Queen Albreda for the Rose, and attack_laurelfor the Laurel. The words were true and heartfealt, and more than a few of us had "sunscreen making our eyes water" during the elevation. I am so proud of cathgrace, and I know that she is a wonderful addition to the Order!

As far as the drama goes, I returned my squires belt to my knight. I won't go into all of the details here in LJ, but the break-up was a long time in the making, and will be for the best. The one thing that I will say is that mutual respect and trust are key to any peer-non-peer relationship, and if that respect is lost, or the trust is betrayed, then the relationship needs to end.

So, eventful Pennsic to say the least. I've got to get back to work stuff for now...

Would rather be at Pennsic...

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:31:09 GMT

Well, like a few have already said, Pennsic land-grab was beautiful! We left DC Saturday morning at around 11am to get onto the battlefield for troll line-up at about 4pm (stopped once for gas and lunch).

By the time we got trolled in, the storm was moving in...fast, but we were moving (luckily) a little faster, and we got the pavilion and the porch set up before the first rain blew through. (This first rain was actually quite nice because it got all of the new canvas wet so the fibers could swell, but didn't soak everything clear through). After getting our stuff set up (which is in Lochac [another story completely] and looks amazing), we made a Wal-Mart food run, stopped for dinner at about 11pm, and got to bed well past midnight.

Yesterday was a very vacationy day. We got up, got dressed in garb, helped with some more set-up in Lochac, and then loaded the kids in the wagon to go see if any friends needed help. We stopped by Vair & Ermine to see the first of the seven 27.5' war standards go up--Theora's squirrel flying on silk looked fantastic! Then we went and found Val in the Gleann Abahnn camp and helped pound snub-wall posts.

Finally, back to camp--resoled one of Val's shoes--went to Lowe's for a few hardware necessities, and then drove back down to DC to get home around 11pm. My body did not want to let me get out of bed this am for work. But, I've got several un-re-schedule-able meetings this week. I will head back up to Pennsic Friday after work.

White-gloving at the Higgins

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:57:18 GMT

"It's not everyday that one gets to hold a Viking sword," was what the curator (Dr. Jeffrey Forgeng) at the Higgins Armoury Museum said to me on Thursday afternoon before handing me the almost 1400-year-old blade.

Yes, I had a spectacular time at the Higgins. Dr. Forgeng (who's work on translating period fighting manuscripts and making them widely available is truly inspiring) hosted my visit (piggy-backed on a work conference to New London, CT) to the museum, and showed me around the collection storage. I got to handle a Viking Sword (c. 600), an 11th century blade, a 12th century blade, an Elizabethan Rapier, a 17th century Dutch rapier, a 17th century German sabre, 2 17th century Northern Italian Schiavonas, and I got to thumb through the pages of 2 16th century Fechtbucher (one was an original Meyers :-)).

To top off the week, Catherine and the kids gave me another Father's Day gift (they had already given me a late 16th century Saxon Hilt sword and a early 16th century hald-and-a-half as an early Father's Day gift last month) in the form of a hardbound Meyer's translation by Dr. Forgeng. I opened up the gift (yesterday) and said, hey, I just saw an original copy of this...too cool!

Anyway, that was my exciting week.

An eerie evening...

Wed, 07 May 2008 06:05:00 GMT

Normally this building is all a bustle with about 26,000 people walking the cooridors each day, but tonight (or, I guess, this morning) as I walked through the cooridors I saw only one other person.

I am working an evening shift (which worked out great for taking Cathgrace to and from the White House yesterday morning) as part of a HQ USAF exercise. After three years of working on Air Staff, this is my first time working through the night, and the empty halls are kinda eerie.

10 things to help...

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:29:15 GMT

To Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity

  1. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice. !

  2. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, ask If They Want Fries with that.

  3. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

  4. In the Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write ' For Mari-juana'

  5. Finish All Your sentences with 'In Accordance With The Prophecy'.

  6. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.

  7. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is 'To Go'.

  8. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area and Play tropical Sounds All Day.

  9. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream 'I Won! I Won!'

  10. When Leaving the Zoo, Start Running towards the Parking lot, Yelling 'Run For Your Lives! They're Loose!'

My wife is the BEST!!!

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 13:42:57 GMT

So, after cathgraceand the kids picked me up from work yesterday we had a few errands to run on the way home. When we got home, there was a 6"x6"x40" (estimated size) box sitting on the porch. To those of you who don't know, I love high quality live steel, and tend to get a couple of period weapons each year for birthdays, anniversary, christmas, and whatever other ).

Anyway, so when we got home, Cath took the box inside and unwrapped all of the packaging to reveal the late 16th century German hunting Sabre she had bought me for my birthday (turning the little 3-0 on Feb 20th). I was present when she ordered it, but it was still so very exciting when she handed it to me to play with! :-)

In addition, since Cath has been taking a two-month repriece from her studies, she has been doing more sewing, and is making me a sweet 16th century Italian red silk quilted doublet.

I HAVE THE BEST WIFE!!!

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:08:43 GMT

I got this meme from

bdeb

, I don't usually do memes, but I liked this one. Thanks Sir Bryce.

1. What do you like best about the SCA?

I enjoy spending the time with my family and friends without all of the modern distractions.

2. Name the first five scadians that come to mind. First five famous medieval persons.

Baroness Catherine Grace, Duke Jade, Duke Valharic, Mistress Isabel, Duke Paul
&
Henry V (I just love the Agincourt campaign), Queen Elizabeth, Emperor Maximillian, Eleanor de Toledo, Albrecht Durer (we just bought an old art book of his stuff yesterday)

3. Who do you miss the most that no longer plays SCA?

Duke Konrad "& Duchess Kortland of Artemisia (they got enticed away by the World of Warcraft).

4. What direction do you see your home kingdom going in the next 5 years? 10?

I see a lot of new blood sitting the thrones and bringin new ideas and new life to Atlantia over the next five years.
Ten years is such a long time away that our children will be giving us hell on the field and elsewhere.

5. Tell one funny SCA story that has happened to you.

I was retaining for a certain king when a certain very-drunk campmate of his confessed that a couple of the Pelicans in camp had been perving on him while he was changing.

Looks like we need to visit the Great Lakes & New England!

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:09:34 GMT

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Congratulations to CathGrace!!!

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:44:02 GMT

It is always such an extreme understatement to say, "My wife is so talented!"

Many of you may be familiar with The Realm of Venus website and The Italian Showcase (if not, check it out if you like 16th century Italian clothing). Anyway, after being contacted by Bella (the lady that hosts the site, kingdom of Lochac) toward the end of 2006, CathGrace was showcased for her Eleanora di Toledo style gold silk damask gown with all the accessories she made, and also with her 1550 Florentine loose gown; she was showcased on August 1st, 2007. At the end of each year, Bella accepts votes for the "Rose Awards" (basically populace favorite) from anyone who visits the site. Today we saw the results of that vote.

CathGrace was chosen for 1st place in the post-1550 category!! :-) Check it out at: http://realmofvenus.renaissanceitaly.net/yourgarb/ISA2007.htm

Monster ME!!!

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 21:36:07 GMT

Get Your Monster Name

All of my Aliases (or aliay?) - What is the plural of alias?

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:42:11 GMT

Sir Justus posted this, but I had to add the last one,

YOUR REAL NAME:

PAUL ANDREW GRIFFITH

YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 4 letters of real name plus izzle.)

Paul'izzle

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal)

Blue Stag

YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (your middle name and street you live on)

Andrew Edwards

YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name.)

Gri ' Pa (sounds like the Spanish cold "gripe")

YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (Your 2nd favorite color, and favorite drink)

Green Lemonade

YOUR ARABIC NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, 1st letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of you dads middle name, 1st letter of a siblings first name, and last letter of your moms middle name)

A'iahesr (bless you!!!)

YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:( Parents middle names )

Lee Thatcher

YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one of your pets)

Black Lilly (no wonder why I was never a Goth!!)

YOUR PORNO NAME: (name of first pet and name of street you grew up on)

Duke Nichols

My apologies & What the hell was I thinking?

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:01:25 GMT

First of all, my sincere apologies to my lovely lady Catherine! A couple of weeks before Pennsic Cath mentioned that it would be nice to have a wagon at Pennsic this year. Her instructions were clear: nothing fancy, just some bike tires, and a wooden frame for the top of the wagon. However, I don't take simple instructions very well; I am more of what you would call an overkiller! So, since we were autocrating Storvik's Novice Tourney, the wagon wasn't started until two weeks before Pennsic. Catherine had a to-do list a mile and a half long, prepare two classes, make a german dress and matching waffenrock, sew some new garb for the kids and I, and sew a 6' x 11' double bell wedge pavilion. (I'm sure I'm missing some things she had on her list, but you get the idea). So, after I had been gone over to the woodshop every night for two weeks (What the hell was I thinking?!? ... DO NOT START A WAGON TWO WEEKS BEFORE PENNSIC!), I was finally able to bring out the wagon. I was very pleased with it and little-miss-muck-on-toast (Emmie) was able to successfully make it through Pennsic without walking more than 3 minutes at a time. :-)

Like everyone else, we survived the rain, but it made us realize that we need to better waterproof / treat the canvas we are using for our shade awnings. Also, we have decided that we need to downsize the things we take to Pennsic next year... we'll see how that works out.

Fighting was great!!! I was able to stand with HRM Valharic during Wed, Thurs, and Friday, (mostly fought English Bill because my right demi-gauntlet had gone missing) and it was a pleasure to be able to fight with Him and His commanders! What inspirational fighters!!! On a happy note, my demi-gauntlet and street hockey glove were returned to me at fighter practice last night (Veniamin found them in lost-and-found on Sunday and brought them home to me).

Storvik fighter practice last night was fun, although not much attendance. Joscelin and I were the two regulars in armor, and we were joined by Earl Sir Stephen from Lochac. (Stephen and Mathilde and their son BJ are here for about three weeks as Mathilde finished here PhD in music). Badouin, Veniamin and his squire Brusi (from Australia) were the other fighters at practice, but they weren't in armor. Some of us were joined by our lovely ladies and it was a fun fighter practice. Everyone that wasn't there is going to get crap next Monday for the excuses they come up with!

Anyway, we're planning on attending the post-Pennsic dessert revel this Saturday, and hopefully will see some of you there.

Climate Change: Global Warming or Ice Age?

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:23:52 GMT

After reading

attack_laurel's post about the BP gift and carbon footprints I thought that I write a quick note on the subject. Appanently the media is just following the money again on this one, and is still unable to make up their minds on what will eventually destroy the world. The following quote is from the worldnews: "Believe it or not, over the last century America's major media have predicted an impending global climate crisis four different times – each prediction warning that entire countries would be wiped out or that lower crop yields would mean "billions will die." In 1895, the panic was over an imminent ice age. Later, in the late 1920s, when the earth’s surface warmed less than half a degree, the media jumped on a new threat – global warming, which continued into the late 1950s. Then in 1975, the New York Times' headline blared, "A Major Cooling Widely Considered to Be Inevitable." Then in 1981 it was back to global warming, with the Times quoting seven government atmospheric scientists who predicted global warming of an "almost unprecedented magnitude." " So, what will it be? Will the planet be destroyed by global warming? ... or by Ice? On the one hand, cold really sucks! But on the other hand, imagine how much nicer it would be to fight at Pennsic with the temperature 10 degrees cooler. Either way we're all probably screwed!

Bright Hills Archery Thing

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 17:00:47 GMT

Well, we went up to Bright Hills and thoroughly enjoyed the archery thing they had. I always enjoy shooting archery, but it seems there is never enough time in the day for everything that I would like to do at one event. I try and balance husband, father, fighter, archer, artisan (although I am not really good enough to call myself archer or artisan; trying though) as best I can, but honestly, if I weren't married to such a selfless wonderful woman I would have to give up many of my interests; too much fun stuff, not enough time!

Isaac and I went off with Miles' archery team, and shot most of the course that was set up there. It was fun, but I was terribly out of practice (I guess after several years of using the same arrows it was finally time to lose one and break another). Isaac had a fun time as well, but I think that he's ready for a heavier bow; he was hitting the target about 50% of the time, his arrows weren't sticking on the farther shoots. He's 6 now and has been shooting since age two, and it's always a fun time to shoot with him. I've decided that I've got to become an archery marshal so that I can shoot with him without tying up the time of any other marshals.

In the evening, we had a great time visiting with Their Majesties, celebrating Rhys' birthday, and listening to the bardic. All in all, it was a great event.

Yesterday, Count Veniamin and I went to Lowes and started working on shield, sword, and armor projects in preparation for Pennsic this year. For those that don't know, Veniamin is my Grandfather Knight, and we camp with Lochac (best camp ever!) every year. So, hopefully Lochac will align with the Middle and Atlantia for the heavy fighting scenarios…

My First Entry

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 19:04:14 GMT

Since several people I know are using Live Journal as a form of communication, I thought that I'd jump on the bandwagon. Well, I actually, with the help of my wife Catherine, who's been Blogging for a while now, I actually jumped onto the wagon about nine weeks ago, but then we went to Germany for seven and a half and I didn't touch the thing. Today I had a little time, so I thought I would try and figure it out.

So, I uploaded a couple of photos and wrote my bio and listed my interests (although I haven't figured out how to see other people's bios or interests yet), and I even have 3 friends! Woo Who! Anyhow, it is time for me to go now. I'll post something interesting later.