Space Shuttle Columbia

Ten years ago today, NASA mission STS-107 ended in tragedy as the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry in the skies over Texas.

rest in peace

Commander: Col. Rick D. Husband (USAF)

Pilot: Cdr. William C. McCool (USN)

Payload Commander: Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson (USAF)

Payload Specialist: Col. Ilan Ramon (IAF)

Mission Specialist: Kalpana Chawla

Mission Specialist: Cpt. David M. Brown (USN)

Mission Specialist: Laurel Blair Salton Clark

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It's the End of the World as We Know It

Hey, I guess that it's pretty much obligatory to do a Mayan Apocalypse post, right?

For me, growing up as a child of the 70's, the end of the world was ubiquitous. Especially as a gamer and a sci-fi fan. 

First, there were the games. As I've spoken of before, SPI had a whole line of "future history games" that essentially played out aspects of World War III, mostly featuring a Warsaw Pact invasion of Europe. I had World War III, Invasion: America, NATO, The Next War, Revolt in the East, China War, Fifth Corps, Fulda Gap, Hof Gap, Red Star/White Star, and many more besides. We played through the Soviet invasion of western Europe countless times, from when I was 10 or so onwards. It certainly made an impression. 

My favorite rule came in the Designer's Notes for one game, on the subject of strategic nuclear weapons. I'm paraphrasing, but the upshot of it was, "If you wish to include the effects of strategic nuclear weapons in your game, just soak the map in lighter fluid and apply a match."

Remember, this was the 1970's. Before Reagan and Gorbachev, right in the midst of the ignominious defeat in Viet Nam and the Iran Hostage Crisis. The Cold War wasn't so cold, and a Soviet Invasion seemed like a real possibility, despite détente. America was weak and overt Communist aggression seemed a very real possibility, and we didn't need The Day After or Red Dawn to tell us that would be The End of the World as We Know It. 

Then there were the movies. Nuclear war wasn't the only subject, but to see it portrayed by Hollywood, the World as We Know It didn't have much longer. There was biological warfare in The Omega Man and The Andromeda Strain; ecological collapse, famine and corporate corruption in Soylent Green; ecological collapse in Silent Running; out-of-control corporations ruling the world in Rollerball; nuclear war in Damnation Alley; economic collapse and nuclear war in Mad Max; economic collapse and biological warfare in The Ultimate Warrior; authoritarianism, slavery, nuclear war and retro-evolution in the Planet of the Apes movies (all but the first came out in the 70's, so I'm counting 'em as valid for this post); societal collapse and descent into savagery in Zardoz; the threat of nuclear annihilation at the hands of a superintelligent computer in Colossus: The Forbin Project; a generally dystopian authoritarian world in TXH-1138; societal collapse, authoritarian governments with mind-control therapies, and widespread ultraviolence in A Clockwork Orange; and ecological collapse, nuclear war, and age discrimination (although that wasn't a term back then) gone wild in Logan's Run. And of course authoritarian governments promoting blood sports in both Rollerball and Death Race 2000. 

Thank goodness Star Wars came along with it story about a genocidal tyrannical government that rules the galaxy, run by a sociopathic cyborg who crushes people's throats with his bare hands, just to lighten the mood. It almost makes one wistful for the gun-totin', human-killin' robots of Westworld.

Still, we made it out of the 70's, and though the specifics of the doom and gloom differ, it's still with us, and probably will be forever. It's the End of the World as We Know it, and I feel fine.

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An Absolutely Disgusting, Bigoted Game Gets Funded on Kickstarter

It is rare that I have a topic that is completely appropriate to post not only to my gaming blog, Greyhawk Grognard, but also to my blog that deals with issues relating to my Heathen faith, GOPagan. However, my attention has been drawn to just such a thing by an article in the Boston Globe (h/t to The Wild Hunt blog).

Let me preface this by saying I abhor Political Correctness. It's nothing but an excuse for professional offense-junkies to try to silence the free speech rights of those with whom they disagree by invoking a non-existent "right not to be offended". This is not that. This jackass has a right to make this game. Just as I have a right to weigh in on that question of whether or not, when one has a right, one necessarily should exercise that right, and whether there exists a line on such things that should or should not be crossed.

The game in question is Salem. It was successfully Kickstarted on November 1, with 553 insensitive assholes pledging $33,812 towards it. The premise?

See who can kill the most witches in Salem.

Modern-day witches and Pagans don't think it's at all funny that people were killed in all sorts of horrible ways just for being accused of being what they are today. It's not cute, it's not an historical footnote, and it's not something that begs to be made into a fucking game.

"You're insulting my faith by mocking it" is one thing, and utter nonsense. All beliefs should be open to critique, questioning, and even ridicule. "You're making a game out of slaughtering people who are like me" is quite another thing entirely.

Hey, I've got an idea. Let's make a new railroad game. Each player is the commandant of a Nazi death camp. The one who can ship the most cattle cars full of Jews, gypsies, and homosexuals to their camp, while still making the trains run on time, wins. Mazel tov!

Or another. This one's a resource allocation game. You have a limited number of negro slaves on your antebellum plantation. You need to allocate them between the cotton fields, the house, and in the slave huts making babies to increase your "labor supply". The player who earns the most money, either by selling cotton, selling slaves to others, or (in an exciting side-game) having your slaves run cockfights, wins. "Uppity nigger" cards can be negated by "If it's a whippin' you're a-wantin'..." cards. Hilarity ensues.

One more. A racing game. You're in Texas, and each player has a gay man chained to the back of your pickup truck. The one who can make it around the track first, without his faggot falling off the end of the chain, wins. Careful-- take a curve too fast and you'll lose 'em before they die. Game over.

Am I overstating the case? I don't think I am. It's a concept that's offensive on its face, the same way that nobody would think to make a game about the Holocaust, black slavery, or the murder of James Byrd, Jr.

For centuries, Christians engaged in witch-hunts, in which tens of thousands of accused witches were burned, hanged, stoned, and otherwise put to death. This is no "burning times" fantasy. It really happened. And for those who, in the modern day, identify themselves as witches, Pagans, and Heathens, it remains an open wound, even if most of those who were accused were guilty of nothing more than being widows and spinsters with property that was coveted by their accusers and judges. The fact that most of those murdered were killed not because they actually were witches, but because they were merely accused of being so, does not lessen the horror of their deaths, or their relevance in the modern day. People today are being slaughtered-- literally-- because they're accused of being witches.

It gets even better-- as a Kickstarter exclusive, you get little plastic nooses to use as player tokens, and a cardstock 3D gallows to adorn your game board. (I'm not making this up.) How jolly! The Zyklon-B replica canisters, real cowhide bull-whips, and 6' length of chain will make dandy props for your game as well.

I don't know how this vile game concept ever got approved by the Kickstarter staff, I don't know how it ever found 553 people to commit money to it, and I don't know how such a game could ever be published, when it essentially makes light of the concept of murdering a group of people who are roughly equal in size to the number of Sunni Muslims in the United States.

Joshua Balvin, head of Rock Paper Scissors Games, should be ashamed of himself. He is an insensitive jerk who obviously doesn't give a crap about making light of the murder of people because of their beliefs, and anyone who buys this game should also be entirely ashamed of themselves.

WARNING: The comments on this post will be monitored very closely, and not only will offensive comments be deleted, but the author of said comments will be banned. Caveat scriptor.

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13 Days of Halloween: Day Twelve

On this date in 1938, many parts of the country were thrown into a panic by a broadcast of an adaptation of H.G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds. Orson Welles produced the adaptation for the Mercury Theater of the Air, framed as a series of fictional news bulletins simulating an invasion of the Earth by invaders from Mars.

People have debated for decades just why the country was so willing to be fooled by the broadcast, and the question of whether or not Welles had an inkling of what would happen was never answered. It is certain that he denied it at a later Congressional hearing, but in subsequent interviews he answered the question rather coyly, implying that he might have known what could happen.

Here is the 1938 broadcast, in its entirety:

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A Real-Life Dungeon Crawl

Over at Smithsonian magazine, there's a terrific article about the Cave of the Sybil at Baia, near Naples. It speculates that the site was used to mimic (or, less charitably, trick people into thinking they were actually) traveling to the underworld. There are apparently multiple tunnels, an underwater stream (heated "to near boiling" by the subterranean volcanic activity; the place is only a few miles from Mt. Vesuvius), hidden staircases, concealed doors; all it needs are pig-faced orcs.

Within the portion of the tunnels choked by rubble, Paget and Jones found, hidden behind an S-bend, a second blockage. This, the explorers discovered, marked the place where two tunnels diverged. Basing his thinking on the remains of some ancient pivots, Paget suggested that the spot had at one time harbored a concealed door. Swung closed, this would have masked the entrance to a second tunnel that acted as a short-cut to the lower levels. Opened partially, it could have been used (the explorer suggested) as a remarkably effective ventilation system; hot, vitiated air would be sucked out of the tunnel complex at ceiling level, while currents of cooler air from the surface were constantly drawn in along the floor.

The article also has several awesome maps, such as that above, that readers here might find interesting. 

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Never Forget

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Historical Themes of the Flanaess

There are several "themes" that run throughout European history. The rise and fall of the Roman Empire arguably created the concept of Europe itself. The multi-century struggle between England and France, which began as early as the Norman Conquest in 1066 and continued through the fall of Napoleon in 1815. The rise of Christianity under the Catholic church, and its eventual disintegration after the Protestant revolution. The struggle between Christianity and Islam.

I would argue that the World of Greyhawk has similar broad themes in its history. The waves of migrations of Suel and Oeridians after the Invoked Devastation and Rain of Colorless Fire and the resultant absorption of the Flan peoples. The rise and fall of the Great Kingdom, which at one point encompassed half the continent, but is now a mere fraction of its former glory (albeit still remaining one of the most powerful nations in the Flanaess as of CY 576). The domination of the North first by the arch-witch Iggwilv and then by her son, the cambion Iuz. The continued marginalization of the humanoid populations.

To give you a sense of what I'm talking about, check out this animation I made (using files originally created by Photobucket user kwintpendick). Focus on the march of the large red area westward, and then its inevitable retreat back to the east. It's also wonderful to see the mutability of national borders expressed so visually; it shows that the upheavals between CY 576 and 591 aren't an anomaly, but the norm.

This sort of "large sweep of history" should, by definition, encompass at least several centuries. That's why I don't count what are, essentially, local or short-term events such as the rise of the Scarlet Brotherhood, the overrunning of the western Sheldomar Valley by giants, etc.

When one looks at history in terms of huge, sweeping arcs, it can add a sense of grandeur and retrospective purpose to the grand sweep of history that mere lists of kings and lists of battles cannot.

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Playing at the World: First Impressions

Author Jon Peterson was kind enough to send me a review copy of his new book Playing at the World, which bears the wordy subtitle of "A History of Simulating Wars, People, and Fantastic Adventures from Chess to Role Playing Games".

In a word, if you have any interest in the early history of Dungeons and Dragons, wargaming, Gary Gygax, or role-playing games in general, buy this book now. No, don't wait. Buy it now. I'll wait.

Ordered it? Good.

I'm only partway through the book, so this is only a "first impressions" rather than a full review. The thing is 720 pages and weighs in at more than three pounds. But from what I've read and skimmed through, I am completely confident in saying that this will become the definitive text of the early history of the role-playing hobby for years to come.

I am an historian by training and avocation. I'm used to reading large books filled with footnotes. I like reading large books filled with footnotes. And this book is that. But it reads lightly, and for me, who thought he had a passing familiarity with the subject matter, this book is a revelation. The level of detail is simply astounding, and in uncovering all of the salient facts of the state of gaming in the 1960's and 1970's that led to the advent of Dungeons and Dragons, Jon Peterson does something that warms the cockles of my heart. It's exactly what I do when digging into some obscure piece of lore, whether it be related to the World of Greyhawk or Norse mythology.

He relies on primary sources.

The importance of that fact cannot be understated. One of the great achievements of this book is that it doesn't rely on the memories and reminisces of those people involved. Peterson double-checks every date, every assertion, and every faded memory against the actual text of the myriad of fanzines, club newsletters, magazines, and other primary documents of the period (the tale of how he amassed such a treasure-trove is probably worthy of a story unto itself). He also cross-references this material against other works that claim to give histories of the period and material involved, and often enough points out where they are contradicted by the actual sources.

I'll say it again. This will become the definitive text of the early history of the role-playing hobby for years to come.

Is it perfect? No, but only because it needs two companion volumes. The first would be a Sourcebook. I would love to see the complete text of the original sources to which Peterson refers and quotes only enough to make his point. The second would be a volume that does consist of the reminisces of the persons involved. The pure facts laid out in "Playing at the World" are fascinating, engaging, and an utterly unthinkable amount of work. I would love to see a pure book of interviews, intended to capture the impressions and emotions of those involved, and see it cross-referenced against the facts laid out here.

But those points are not failings of the book itself. It's a phenomenal achievement. If you are interested in the history of RPGs, you must get this book. Buy it now. I'll wait.

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The Tudors: Seasons 5 and 6

I was (and remain) a huge fan of the Showtime historical drama series The Tudors. One of the great disappointments surrounding the series is that it wasn't really about "The Tudors" at all, but only concerned itself with the life of English king Henry VIII. I was really hoping that, after his death in the show, they would go on to the fascinating life of Queen Elizabeth, her struggle with Mary Tudor (aka "Bloody Mary" because of her persecution of Protestants) to ascend to the throne, and her subsequent struggle against Mary, Queen of Scots. Unfortunately, it was not to be.

However, one can sort of reconstruct what two Elizabethan seasons of The Tudors might have been like with some historical dramas that detail aspects of the virgin Queen's life.

First is Elizabeth (1998), starring Cate Blanchett. It starts with an around-the-bend Mary Tudor bringing her half-sister Elizabeth back into the succession and deals with the virgin Queen's efforts to control the clergy in England and with various lovers and attempts to get her married so an heir can be born. Blanchett does an excellent job of portraying Elizabeth, and this is one of the shining examples of the modern costume drama genre.

Second is Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), with Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth and Vanessa Redgrave as Mary. It is a prototypical 1970's film, with lots of excellent costuming and on location shooting. Timothy Dalton plays Mary's eventual husband, Lord Darnley, and Patric McGoohan plays her half-brother, Lord Moray. It's a surprisingly fun film, portraying Elizabeth in particular as a very calculating and manipulative monarch.

Third and last is Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), once again starring Cate Blanchett. This film is centered on the later years of Elizabeth's reign, and in particular deals with the attack of the Spanish Armada. I think it suffers from a lack of enough John Dee and too much speculation about Elizabeth's lovers.

Put 'em together and I think you have the makings of a couple of seasons of pretty good television.

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Remembering the Reason for the Holiday

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America 

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

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Space That Might Have Been: Rombus

Considering what a space geek I am, I certainly should have known about this before today, but I never heard of this!

Back in 1964, Phil Bono of Douglas Aircraft (which later merged to become McDonnell Douglas) came up with a bold proposal for a reusable single-stage booster. The Reusable Orbital Module, Booster, and Utility Shuttle (ROMBUS) consisted of a large central core rocket surrounded by eight disposable hydrogen fuel cells (that would drop to earth by parachute and thus be themselves reusable). It would have had a payload of 990,000 lbs. (compare to the 52,600 maximum payload the Space Shuttle could bring to LEO) and have cost $195 per pound in 2010 dollars (compare to the Space Shuttle, which ended up costing around $9,000 per pound). The Rombus would have been recoverable at sea.

But the best part about the Rombus design, efficient and innovative as it was at the time, were the spin-off projects that were built around the basic design.

Ithacus was designed using the basic concept of Rombus, but as an intercontinental troop carrier capable of transporting 1,200 troops with full combat gear anywhere in the world in 90 minutes. Yes, that's right. A drop-ship design from 1964. There was also an Ithacus Jr. that would be able to transport 260 soldiers or 33.5 tons of materiel. They would be launched in pairs from nuclear-powered aircraft carriers to deploy troops and equipment. Pegasus was a civilian version of the concept.

Bono figured out that, if there was a capacity for refueling the rocket in Earth orbit, one of his Rombus ships could make it to the moon and back. That realization was the basis for Project Selena, which would have had a permanently manned lunar base with a crew of 25 by 1978, and a thousand-man base producing rocket fuel from the lunar regolith by 1984 (damnit, that's what SHOULD have been happening when I was graduating from high school!). The base itself would be constructed out of spent fuel canisters, which would be brought to the moon as shelter material rather than discarded once the hydrogen fuel was spent.

Project Deimos was similar in concept, although grander in scope; a Rombus vehicle could take a Mars Excursion Module on a 200-day journey in 1986. The expedition would remain on the surface for 20 days and then return. Later expeditions would have a much longer staying-time, owing to unmanned Rombus vehicles which would drop off supplies for future manned exploration missions.

Alas, the Rombus never got past the design stage and multiple-stage rockets won out over SSTO's (with more work the overly-optimistic estimates of capacity and cost would probably have been made more realistic), and we got the space program of Apollo, Skylab, the Space Shuttle, and the ISS. Which are spectacular achievements in and of themselves of course, but it does make me long for a manned lunar colony and men on Mars...

All images in this post credit: NASA.

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For Anyone Who Missed the First Two Seasons of "The Borgias" on Showtime...

Here it is in a nutshell. Sortakinda.

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The Byte-Sized Middle Ages

I came across a fascinating paper by Courtney Booker (first published in 2004) which describes how modern minds have a somewhat distorted view of the Middle Ages. Rather than internalizing the pervasive religiosity which defined the Medieval era, we seem to have a view of the time as being driven by a sort of secular chivalry.

What makes it particularly apropos for my purposes is that it traces the responsibility for this popular attitude regarding the Middle Ages through Tolkien, then to Gygax and Arneson's D&D (citing heavily from Lawrence Schick's Heroic Worlds), early computer games such as "Adventure", and finally through Peter Jackson's adaptation of Lord of the Rings (which were quite current at the time the paper was originally published). Ms. Booker takes the de rigueur side-trips through James Dallas Egbert III, the "Satanic Panic" of the 1980's (even citing my favorite radio evangelist and over-the-phone exorcist, Bob Larson), and B.A.D.D. Her final conclusion is that:

...the popular conception of the Middle Ages is now largely Tolkienesque, it is a conception that will be increasingly based on Jackson’s high-definition “CGI” of Tolkien’s novel, with all the baggage—the history, possibilities, and constraints—that CGI brings with it.

It's a fascinating thesis, albeit one that will quickly become dated when the next big pseudo-Medieval fantasy epic hits the big screen to replace Jackson's films in the collective imagination, but it's a great read, if you're used to the academic style.

Thanks to Medievalists.net for pointing this out! (Currently gracing my blog roll, to the left.)

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Memorial Day

Remember those heroes who have fallen in service to their nation.

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History of Dice

Sorry for but a brief post today. Brian over at the Awesome Dice Blog has an interesting story on the history of dice, including a neat info-graphic to go along with it. Definitely worth checking out.

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The Rebel Yell Lives

So you think the "Rebel Yell" of the Civil War was something akin to "yeeee-haaaa!!!"

Think again.

Here's the Museum of the Confederacy explaining how they went about recreating the actual rebel yell:

And here's how that knowledge was applied by modern reenactors:

Both segments take a total of about 10 minutes to watch, and I think it's really worth it (but then again, I am a creature of admittedly eclectic standards). You can purchase the CD mentioned here.

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Egyptian pyramids found by infra-red satellite images

From the BBC:

Seventeen lost pyramids are among the buildings identified in a new satellite survey of Egypt. 
More than 1,000 tombs and 3,000 ancient settlements were also revealed by looking at infra-red images which show up underground buildings. 
Initial excavations have already confirmed some of the findings, including two suspected pyramids.

I think it is so cool that there are still so much history that is still left to be discovered. I mean, entire pyramids!

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Anyone Know this Book?

Back in high school, I read a book about the American Revolution, whose thesis was that the British officer corps was inclined to "throw" the war because many of them were Freemasons who in some cases shared lodges with their American counterparts, and actually agreed with the Enlightenment ideals espoused by the rebels and encouraged by international Freemasonry, even if they couldn't say so in public. Despite the premise, it wasn't an hysterical conspiracy theory book, but an honest-to-goodness historical analysis. I remember getting it through the History Book Club back in the first half of the 1980's, but that's about all I can recall.

I know it's a long shot, but does anyone happen to know the title of that book?

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Omni

I've been a fan of both science and science fiction as long as I can remember, but one of the things that really had a big influence on me just as I was coming into my own (and, perhaps not coincidentally, while I was deep into my discovery of Dungeons and Dragons) was Omni magazine.

I was fortunate that my high school library had a subscription to Omni from the beginning in 1978. Every month I would pour through its pages, and was invariably entertained and educated. It was a mix of hard science, science fiction, evocative artwork, and pseudoscience such as UFOs. But its glossy pages had enough gravitas to get authors like Robert Heinlein, Carl Sagan, Orson Scott Card, William Gibson, and George R.R. Martin, whose seminal short story Sandkings first appeared in its pages. The work of artists such as H.R. Geiger and Rallé graced its covers.

This was great stuff for someone in the 12-year-old crowd; there was a lot of learning in those pages, but a lot of fun as well. I was already a sci-fi fan, but Omni opened up new worlds of "serious" science fiction, as well as science speculation. I very much miss Omni's unique blend of science and fiction.

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More Medieval Erudition: The Lament of Sudden Wealth

Life and customs were hard in Lombardy [at the beginning of the 13th century]. Men wore cloaks of leather without any adornments, or clothes of rough wool with no lining. With a few pence, people felt rich. Men longed to have arms and horses. If one was noble and rich, one's ambition was to own high towers from which to admire the city and the mountains and the rivers. The virgins wore tunics of pignolato [rough cotton] and petticoats of linen, and on their heads they wore no ornaments at all. A normal dowry was about ten lire and at the utmost reached one hundred, because the clothes of the woman were ever so simple. There were no fireplaces in the houses. Expenses were cut down to a minimum because in summer people drank little wine and wine-cellars were not kept. At table, knives were not used; husband and wife ate off the same plate, and there was one cup or two at most for the whole family. Candles were not used, and at night one dined by light of glowing torches. One ate cooked turnips, and ate meat only three times a week. Clothing was frugal. Today, instead, everything is sumptuous. Dress has become precious and rich with superfluity. Men and women bedeck themselves with gold, silver, and pearls. Foreign wines and wines from distant countries are drunk, luxurious dinners are eaten, and cooks are highly valued.

-- Galvano Fiamma, 13th century, as quoted in The Taste of Conquest by Michael Krondl

While Galvano Fiamma was complaining about the changes in lifestyle brought about by the conquerors returning home with wealth from the Crusades, he could just as easily be bemoaning the wealth that would be attendant to a steady stream of adventurers hauling boxes of gold and jewels from the depths of a nearby megadungeon. Gary Gygax spoke briefly of such inflation, but when I saw the above quote, I thought it said it much more eloquently than I could.

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