The first few years we lived here and had fighter practice in the front yard, we'd have cop cars by all the time. Pretty soon, though, that stopped as word got around about the weird folk on the corner. We have actually heard that there are fewer incidents reported in our immediate neighborhood. Apparently word gets around taht the folks on the corner have blunt instruments and aren't afraid to use them. Then they see me hacking at snowmen with live steel . . . We can always tell when there's a new cop on the patrol. I think the department sends them out our way just to break them in.

(please tell me you were at least wearing some kinda masks)

No. (read: "Both 19 and male.") In retrospect, it was really dumb. But my dad just kind of shook his head at it at the time telling my mom he'd done far more dangerous things as a teenager and just we'd find somewhere else to do it if they told us not to. Figured at least this way they were on hand to get us to a medical facility if necessary. Nearly did for my hand. The blunted sword tore a huge swath of skin off through my leather gloves and bruised the hell out of it. I'm amazed my thumb, at least, wasn't broken. But needless to say, that was the end of that.

Of course, even with the padded stuff we use now I could have lost an eye. Someone's sword broke under the padding without him realizing it and he sliced my eyebrow open and scratched my eyelid and down to my cheek. I started cussing at him, thinking he just wasn't using control until someone told me I was bleeding.

We make sure to do weapon checks before every game now, obviously.

A sane person would wonder why they still do this stuff.

A sane person would wonder why they still do this stuff.

Ehh, sane people don't get the swordy thing.

(But I'm still gonna go lovingly fondle my preciousss sabre mask for a while.)

So, I'm watching this totally fluffy movie on ABC family with Emma Caulfield and Bradley Cooper, because, you know, Emma Caulfield and Brad Cooper, and I come across a commercial for a sitcom called "Celeste in the City". And appearing in it is Nick Brendon as some kind of gay make-over artist. And he's a member of... a sort of posse of Queer Eye wanna-bes on acid. Does anyone know about this?

Hee. It's not a sitcom. It's made-for-TV movie by ABC Family, who seems to have somehow discovered that former BtVS actors are very talented and need work. (They also made See Jane Date with CC last fall.)

Anyway, from what I've heard, NB is playing a gay guy who helps his female cousin with a makeover. I'm not sure what her objective is, other than to be the best her she can be. There's probably a cute guy involved somewhere.

I wish I knew what happened to my late brother's pistol-back competition epeés...

Sigh.

You swordy type people know, don't you, that the History Channel is starting a four part series on "barbarians" tonight. Tonight is Vikings and Goths - promises to have lots of swords and gore. The next two parts are on the Huns and the Mongols.

A sane person would wonder why they still do this stuff.

Do we have any of those?

You swordy type people know, don't you, that the History Channel is starting a four part series on "barbarians" tonight. Tonight is Vikings and Goths - promises to have lots of swords and gore. The next two parts are on the Huns and the Mongols.

Caught a bit of it last night, co-watching with Stargate. Thought that what I saw was really good and definitely worth watching, need to pay closer attention when they rebroadcast the show and the rest.

You swordy type people know, don't you, that the History Channel is starting a four part series on "barbarians" tonight

You mean that show that now has a tape of its very own? National Geographic's "Secrets of the Viking Warriors" was better. All four eps were broadcast last night, and Hubby and I started heckling the people they were using in the reinactments. Some of the fight scenes were fairly bad, with fatal sword blows not coming anywhere near bodies. At one moment, I said, "Oh, for heaven sakes--look at that guy! That's a 12th century chaperon he's wearing, and he's supposed to be a 9th century Goth!" Hubby replied with, "Well, what can you expect? Look at the helmets, they're all over the map, geographically and timewise." Me: "I know, wasn't that a barbut on that one guy? Those came in, when, 1300s somewhere?"

And we stared at each other and started to giggle. Then we began critiquing the choices of color for the costumes, then Hubby pointed out this one female extra who takes an arrow to the chest in every single "Barbarians sack the helpless town" scene. "Hey, look, there she is! She survived--no, wait, there she goes." Hubby: "Stupid woman, you'd think she'd learn to duck by now."