Stuff From Dragons Rest

Whoo Hoo (almost)

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:17:54 GMT

Tomorrow I end a three day stint of being a professional Viking (I'm sure my paternal ancestors are spinning in their graves) this means I will be able to go home...for all of one night then I am off again to be a hedge Knight for two days...sigh. The money is handy right enough but I so hate being away from home and my woman.

Mind you as my brief is to scare the living daylights out of primary school kids, being pissed off gives me the motivation to be really mean. Its amazing I really do give the kids a hard time, I stay in character for the whole day and threaten to kill them at regular intervals. At any other time I would be arrested for threatening behavior, and as for walking around a school armed to the teeth well......The kids adore it (some actually believe I am a real viking and truly believe I could kill them at any minute) but they all think I am the coolest thing since sliced bread.
It is strange how behavior that would get me arrested in civvies seems to be acceptable while dressed in historical kit.

Its a very strange world that KoR inhabits but it sure beats working for the man.

Youtube Tuesday

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:00:12 GMT

Ok I don't do poetry, nothing against it, but it don't touch me...well once in a blue moon (and that's more often than you might think..look it up)
So I have decided to instigate Youtube Tuesday feel free to join in or not. It must be something odd or unique in some way (I should have saved the fainting goats for this)

This one is a by young lad from Ballymena, Northern Ireland (near where I am staying at the moment) who goes under the moniker of somestrangeflea, he is a friend of a friends lads...did that make sense? anyway I think he shows excellent media savvy for such a young man. I suspect if he keeps it up he will grace the small screen before he gets much older.

This is his link to his youtube profile if you want to see more http://uk.youtube.com/somestrangeflea

Welcome NQ3X

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:29:26 GMT

A warm welcome to nq3x who has joined my flist (and I his) He is the other half of kass_rantsThey are the team behind reconstructing history and some of the most entertaining posters around. So welcome Bob you will find an eclectic mix of folks here, a mix of Lj pals and real world friends. And those of you that are living history buffs click on the link, its well worth a look, well reserched patterns for your historical threads ;-)

Whoops

Mon, 12 May 2008 12:09:23 GMT

Um I didn't mean to do it, realy I didn't, but, I have bought a motorbike....well I am a biker, from the top of my hairy head, to the tips of my toes. I have spent the last few years incarcerated in a metal box, watching the lucky bastards on their bikes wizzing by in the sunshine. But I'm back! so here's the pic.

The dude in the background is Pete, an old friend who offered me this rare Kawasaki 750 ltd American import at a price I could't refuse.
KOR will soon be back with his head in the wind...Whoo fucking Hoo.

A happy surprise

Sun, 04 May 2008 18:58:01 GMT

WE HAVE A PARRIS WHOO HOO

Yup Parris has paid a surprise visit to the emerald isle, and a fine party was had last night. many guitars and drums and whistles. Such classic tunes as "Dave is playing reggae on the bodhran" and "Dave is playing flamenco on the bodhran" and "Dave is playing metal on the bodhron" and many more. An old friendship was rekindled, though more work needed there for me to totally forgive an old and still dear friend. KoR felt much love and still wonders what he has done to deserve such good and loyal friends.

Soon on my way again for another gig so I will love you and leave you. Suffice to say KoR is feeling pretty good at the moment (if a bit tired and achy)

A busy weekend and another new friend

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:11:50 GMT

The weekend starts here, I am off to the far north for another day of scare ring the bejaysus out of some 7 year olds dressed as a mean looking viking. then back here for Guild training. Friday I have to pick up a van and drive over to Irish Armes to get it loaded. Then up to Dundrum for more Guild training. Back then to Irish Armes to help out sorting the kit for a joust, home for saturday night, them back again to Irish Armes to stay overnight to be ready to leave at 5 in the morning for a gig in Hollywood on Monday. The good thing is I will be paid twice for the gig once as Irish Armes driver and again for the gig as FKOR....phew. so if I'm missing from Lj for a few days you'll know why.

The new friend to my flist will need no introduction to most of you, but for those of you that don't know of her, I introduce niamhotoole , a feisty and entertaining young lady with a scary avatar. I am surprised we have linked up before now, as we share many flisters in common. I think the last straw was when we found ourselves in the same highly filtered thread containing some very sick humour. Anyway welcome to my flist niamhotoole :-)

Music Monday

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:31:11 GMT

Something a little different today, I don't know if any of you have come across this its been around a while but if not enjoy.

And just one more

Random Friends?

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:28:20 GMT

I find myself in a quandary..another unknown young lady has added me to her flist. Now the last one to do this I friend-ed after reading her journal, you'll remember, hates face book and seemed a little sad (hopefully she was just on a temporary down) as I hate face book and am a sucker for sad ladies (its the knight in shining armour thing) I friend-ed her.

So we come to dderz, I went to her (your ;-)) journal and found the latest post (January) It was a strong and opinionated demand to acknowledge rhapsody in blue as "the best thing
ever written and recorded in the history of things written and recorded." Now this is obviously a subjective thing, and a huge sweeping statement. In my humble opinion it is also indefensible. Why has she friend-ed me? what has led her to the opinion we may have things in common? I'm not saying we haven't, or that I don't want to find out more I'm just curious. We have no flisters in common, nor does she have a huge flist. So its not one of those friend gathering exercises some interweb types go in for. (something I do not indulge in, hence my quandary)

She is a musician so that is a good reason to befriend the young lady, but on its own, in isolation its not enough. So dderz who are you, come in and introduce yourself, to myself and my flist. How did you find me? and what led you to friend me? But first as I do this for everyone who comes to my little corner of Lj. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen I introduce dderz and I look froward to getting to know her, and finding out what she will add to our collective lives :-)

Home for a day

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 18:06:27 GMT

Yes I'm home whoohoo. Another day of Knight School Sunday, but that's a late start so I don't need to be away over night. FKOR have teamed up with a fine women called Rita who goes around schools doing full days of curriculum based history presentations, with games, and a show and tell display. She met us last year at Dunluce castle, the way we presented our show impressed her and since then she has been figuring a way to include us either singly, or as a group. I have done a couple of days with her now, and we get on like a house on fire.
This is a great opportunity to expand my earning capacity into the winter months. That will make a big difference to life here I can tell you.

The other lads from FKOR seem to be shaping up for another argument, so I guess I have that to look forward to as well...sigh. Just as things are starting to come together they start to cause me problems. I just hope I can work the Paul magic and sort the fuckers out one more time.

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:18:50 GMT

So I have been away from home all week living the life of a jobbing knight, and in my absence I have been befriended by karaokecol, I'm not sure from where she came, and the user name rings no bells. But then I have no memory at the best of times. But she hates facebook and thats good enough for me, and her last post was kinda sad. So welcome to my flist karaokecol. I send you love and a virtual hug ;-)

I am wanting to be home but it will be the early hours of saturday morning before I am...sigh
I have not slept in the same place for a week and feel like some kind of itinerant, oh well I'm earning, so thats a good thing.

Love to you all

KOR

Music Monday

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:48:27 GMT

The original and best, yes its Black Sabbath in their original line up, way back when. Allways the hardest rocking metal of all Sabbath spawned many wanna be metal copies. But this is it boys and girls, this is where heavy metal was born.

I defy you not to head bang this one

Thought for the day....If the internet is a world without walls and fences.....why do we need gates and windows?

Welcome Zornhau

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:12:27 GMT

So a warm wecome to my flist for Zornhau a lover of the sword and its use, and another author. I'm not sure where he came from, gathered from one of my random posts around Lj, which is all part of the fun. But if swords are your thing, have a look at his Lj.

Music Monday

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:59:48 GMT

Ok I started with another idea, but there seems to be a bit of a theme around driving this week inspired by Parris (a venerable raod warrier who recounted many adventures from the great american highway on our road trip through New Mexico and Arizona), so in that spirit here are another two blasts from the past essential for any road trip.

Ah, happy memories ;-)

More on Goats

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:02:55 GMT

I have decided this is Goat Week on my journal, and in that spirit I gave you fainting goats.

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 23:49:17 GMT

Boys and Girls I have uploaded two new songs to MySpace usual caveat still work in progress.

Bagdad is an anti warish sort of thing, and a little dirivative (quedos to anyone who spots the influance, band and track) I'm entirly to blame for this one singing and playing all parts

Head over heels is a power ballad and has Dave the ulsterman on bass and Martyn is doing one of the backing vocals the rest is yours truely.

Anyway here is the link http://www.myspace.com/loscajones constructive critisism is welcome.

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:18:17 GMT

Well ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome at long last Kass to my little corner of Lj, She is an awesome lady and if I was young free and single I would emigrate, just to persuade her to marry me ;-)(she is of course already taken, but if there is anything in this reincarnation lark....) Kass is one of the top makers of historical costume and ships her patterns all over the world. Kass you will find an entertaining bunch of ne'er do wells here from your side of the pond and mine.

The dancing goat

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:41:05 GMT

I stole this pick from one of my MySpace friends (a proper real world one) he has been going on about his dancing goat for days and finaly posted this pick, I've been meaning to go and visit him for a while, now I'm even more determined.

Woe is me!

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:08:30 GMT

My favorite forum www.livinghistory.ie has been hacked and the site op is too busy with personal life to get it back up for a couple of weeks...WOE IS ME. It is a place I spend alot of time on as it a great place to keep up with all the living history peeps. If only I knew more about forum software I could help out, but its just not something I know anything about :-( sigh.

Ah well life goes on, its a lovely spring day and time to walk Spike the dog

Love and Peace to you all

Music Monday

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:13:32 GMT

So as I promised X-ray this week I have delved deep into the vaults to come up with a Brit band from the much maligned prog rock era of the late 70's. This tune was a tongue in cheek answer to claims at the time that they couldn't or wouldn't rock. Whether they succeeded or not is debatable but they were another of my top bands of the time.

Ok its now tuesday but my ISP went down as I tried to post this yesterday

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:08:40 GMT

Two new friends have joined my flist, http://hugh-k.livejournal.com/ and http://peadarog.livejournal.com/ Peadarog is another writer, so more long and elequnt posts to wake up to in the morning. Where are the muso's? I have never had so many writers in my circle of friends lol. Its as much as I can do to string together a few verses and a chorus let alone a book.

Hugh is a good real world friend, and as far as I know not a writer..or musicion. By all accounts he is a demon D&D game master, and well on his way to being a class medievil swordsman.

Welcome to my little corner of Lj guys

KOR joins in on Music Monday

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:47:01 GMT

This is one of my favorite bands, It Bites, rocked my boat from their first single (Calling all the heros) Hope you enjoy

Training

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:47:28 GMT

Looking foward to Guild training tonight, I should have a full compliment of students maybe for the first time. I have some new exorcises for them and it will be interesting to see how they work out. My lazer printer is working over time as its fee paying time of year and I'm hoping they will all be filling out membership forms and becoming full members of the Guild. This means they will be getting the new guild hand books. These arrive to me as a file attached to an email and I have to print them out. I just hope I have enough toner etc, 'cause it costs a fortune.

I'm still waiting to be paid out for gigs done so far. The car is running on fumes and I have a shit load of driving to do next week. I sure can't keep it up for much longer without getting some money..sigh. On top of that my Guildmaster in London wants me to go over to check on my progress sometime soon, and then again in september for the Chaptermasters meeting, and Sally is after a few days in Amsterdam.

Ah well, I will manage somehow, I always do. I sure don't know how at this moment, but I will. KOR delights in the impossable, sure, why should it be easy? where is the fun in that?

Take care my flist, be good to each other.

Thanks to Parris and an FKOR b team

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:08:44 GMT

Another weekend of fight gigs with one memorable difference, we had no Mark. So for the first time Damian stepped up to the plate as a backup fighter. Now he would be the first to admit, he is not up to the standard of M&N so we decided to field him as a Squire. This would cover any mistakes. We decided that the disaperance of the Good Knight would come as a surprise to me in the show and I would introduce him as normal. This meant once or twice I had the audiance cheering for a non existing Good Knight lol. I also thought it would be fun to have the audiance go ahhh for the squire insted of cheering. They lapped it up, we changed the routine so our squire got his ass kicked over and over again. It went down realy well and a great time was had by all. Much thanks to Shauna for all the tea makeing, and assistance your a star babes.

Much thanks to Parris for waving her magic card over my Lj account and keeping it ad.free for another year.

Many sympathies to GRR who is up to his eyeballs in committments over the next few months, hope to see you soon for some rest and relaxation ;-)

For Jo (when I'm wrong I'm wrong ;-)

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:40:18 GMT

There was at least one company of female knights don't know who or where, its something like the company of St Brigit but they were trained to defend the towns if neccesary. So there's your in. Do the reserch, find them and what kit they dressed in and your flying. Its a great angle to bring you into a display team and it also is great to have something that other women can relate to other than the old damsel in distress thing ;-)Its Europian not irish as far as I know women were banned from the field of combat after the 8th century (once again I am prepared to be proved wrong on that one)

A Happy Paddys Day

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:21:38 GMT

This year Paddys Day was perhaps the most inclusive to date with parades on both sides of the border passing off peacefully. There were some funny moments. The sight of a St Patrick in Newery Co. Down dressed in red robes, familys dressed in green with a shamrock in one hand waving union flags with the other. The Parade in Dublin lead by a Protestant Mayor from the north, who did moan a bit about people waving the Tri colour, well what did he expect. He was in Dublin after all.
Still here are some pic's of our local parade

The eagle eyed among you might spot my nearest and dearest in that second to last one.

A quick apology to the esteemed Parris for telling her off yesterday for being what she is, a New York Girl from Hells Kitchen. They have their own take on Paddys day, its very American Irish and seems to involve a lot of sobbing into their pints and remembering the good old/bad old days. Each to their own as I often say, and yesterday I forgot that I say that ;-)

So I raised a pint to Patrick (a welshman) and sang a verse of Danny Boy (written by a welshman) and whatched my wife (an english wommen) on a float entered by her gym (run by a scotsman) and manned by a pole and a latvian, and yes a few Paddies LOL

It was a Happy Paddys day.