Paintball schedule for Feb

Due to SuperBowl, we are going to shift the dates up (back?) one week in February. Instead of playing the first and third weekend of the month, we'll be playing the second and fourth weekend.

Our game dates for February will be:
Sunday, Feb. 12 - 3pm @ Dripping Springs
Sunday, Feb. 26 - 3pm @ Dripping Springs

I'll be sending out reminders the week before these games. I'll also be mailing out our schedule for the rest of the year in the next few days.

http://www.orionfoundation.org/paintball.htm

Buck/Strider Solution - Not All Its Crapped Up To Be?

A friend of mine and I recently saw a Buck/Strider Solution knife at the local Sportsman's Warehouse. We were both impressed, until he was googling around and found this:

Much of the promotion for this knife is centered on extreme toughness "where failure is not an option", however this knife is actually focused much more on shallow cutting ability than extreme toughness. This really isn't a sharpened prybar kind of knife.

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/knives/solution.html

"Happiness is more generally and equally diffus'd among Savages than in civilized societies. No European who has tasted savage life can afterwards bear to live in our societies."

- Benjamin Franklin, 1770

Don't forget to pack your brain . . .

I recently saw this posting on a primitive skills board about mixing modern and primitive gear on wilderness outings:

I combine a small amount of modern with mostly 18th century gear for treks. Modern items are first-aid, water-purification and some non-period fishing tackle (even this is mostly 18th century), cellphone-not turned on, just "in case", and maybe some power-bar type junk....

I enjoy using only 18th century or "abo" gear exclusively, but knowing I've got some basic modern "stuff" gives me some comfort...I still believe the most important piece of gear you can have is a functional brain.....

Good advice.

Paintball this weekend . . .

Our plan for this weekend was originally to have a game on Saturday - which will probably work out better for me, though it won't be at Dripping Springs or Miller Ranch . . .

There is another group in Austin with regular (every other weekend) Saturday games and I've been meaning to check them out. They start at 9am on Saturday and I am planning on meeting up with them and checking out their group. This could be another option for us on low attendance weekends, give us a little cross-pollination (if we like them folk), and also give us a team that we could play against in larger scenario games.

I know that some of you are only available on Sunday, but it looks like at this point I won't be able to make it out for a Sunday game.

Please let me know who is available for either time and we'll see if a group can play on Saturday and maybe another group can play on Sunday at Dripping Springs.

Look forward to hearing back from everyone.

Here is the website for Leander Paintball Alliance.

The Law Of Independent Discovery

I was looking through the events list on http://www.historicaltrekking.com/ and found this one:

3/26/2005 - 3/26/2005 : 18th Century Paintball Game; Gerrardstown, WV. .
Description: 18th Century Paintball Game March 26, 2005 At North Mountain Paintball Gerrardstown, WV. This event will be using paintball guns without their hoppers so that they will only fire one shot at a time. All the participants must be in 18th Century clothing with 18th Century accoutrements. The games will be played in a variety of ways including an ambush tactical and a linear tactical. These games will be played in wooded terrain, open fields, and in and around structures. You may rent or bring your own paintball equipment. The cost of rental is $20.00 which provides you with a gun and a mask. If you bring your own gun, you must be able to remove the hopper and adjust your velocity below 300 fps. Please pre-register for this event by March19, 2005; this will ensure that there are enough rental guns. For information/questions/registration please contact: Abe Price at Raystown Forge 304-671-5751 392 Montmorency Drive, Bunker Hill, WV 25413 Raystownforge@hotmail.com
Contact: abe price at raystownforge@hotmail.com or (304) 671-5751
Website: raystownforge.com

Unfortunately, it's a bit of a hike for the Central Texas crew, but what a cool event. I need to see if I can find a few hundred people around here with British Red Coats for my paintball re-make of the French and Indian War.

We'd be the Indians, of course . . .

A Literary Roundhouse to the Face

When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.

. . .and now a random fact about Chuck Norris: http://www.4q.cc/chuck/index.php?topthirty

Paintball not war . . .

Go-Karts, Paintball Appeal to Young Iranians

With a literacy rate of 86 percent, there are many educated people in Iran. They watch satellite television in the cities, but without scratching the surface too deeply, one senses a real sense of frustration with the limitations.

"Right now I feel I hate Iran. I really hate Iran," said one skier.

But along with the ski slopes, young Iranians are finding other places to entertain themselves — such as the paintball field.

"We have a famous saying over here in paintball," said one player. "We say, 'Paintball not war!'"

Watching the groups of paintball competitors chasing one another around the field can look a lot like the United States. But it is still Iran, of course.

Our host said women are allowed to play, just not with the men. Still, many people here make the point that Americans and Iranians have a lot in common.

Taken from - http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1467301

I'd love to see what they are playing with over there.

Yet another thing to tie us all together - universal frustration with Brass Eagle products.

Now for something completely different . . . . What D&D Character Are You?

Mr. Smith sent me a over a link to figure out how you fit into the D&D world. Here's how I worked out:

Neutral Good Half-Orc Ranger Fighter
Follower Of Mielikki

Alignment:
Neutral Good characters believe in the power of good above all else. They will work to make the world a better place, and will do whatever is necessary to bring that about, whether it goes for or against whatever is considered 'normal'.

Race:
Half-Orcs are a cross between a human and an orc. Generally, this kind of mating does not occur willingly, so half-orcs are almost never raised by a full set of parents. They tend to be less intelligent and attractive than humans, but are generally stronger and hardier. Violence is a part of their nature, and few half-orcs manage to overcome this to follow other professions. They are generally treated with disdain by other races, if not outright hostility.

Primary Class:
Rangers are the defenders of nature and the elements. They are in tune with the Earth, and work to keep it safe and healthy.

Secondary Class:
Fighters are the warriors. They use weapons to accomplish their goals. This isn't to say that they aren't intelligent, but that they do, in fact, believe that violence is frequently the answer.

Deity:
Mielikki is the Neutral Good goddess of the forest and autumn. She is also known as the Lady of the Forest, and is the Patron of Rangers. Her followers are devoted to nature, and believe in the positive and outreaching elements of it. They use light armor, and a variety of weapons suitable for hunting, which they are quite skilled at. Mielikki's symbol is a unicorn head.

Well, it could be worse, I guess. I could have been a dwarf or gnome.

Solve the age-old riddle of whether you are a Sorceress or a Paladin - http://neppyman.irulethe.net/dndwho/index.html

Hunting Zombies? Oh, what to bring?

The question is always coming up about what to bring along when you find yourself out on a Zombie-hunting expedition, or if the desolate town or resort you are vacationing at suddenly becomes the target of a hoard of the undead.

While browsing on Amazon.com earlier today, I found the helpful listing of Josh Bailey, a zombie hunter who was kind enough to offer his suggestions.

All of the items are available on Amazon.com and can be shipped straight to your door. Unfortunately, you'll still have to raid the local sporting goods store to get the good stuff.

As Josh says, if it's good enough for a ninja, it's good enough for you.

The Colour Out Of Space?

This month's Wired magazine (Jan '06) begins with a photographic representation of panspremia - the idea that the basic elements of life are floating around the universe and every once-in-a-while find themselves in the right conditions for life to form.

Panspermia is the hypothesis that the seeds of life are ubiquitous in the universe, that they may have delivered life to Earth, and that they may deliver or have delivered life to other habitable bodies; also the process of such delivery . . . There is as yet no compelling evidence to support or contradict it, although the majority view holds that panspermia — especially in its interstellar form — is unlikely given the challenges of survival and transport in space. Sir Fred Hoyle (1915–2001) and Chandra Wickramasinghe were important proponents of the hypothesis who further contended that lifeforms continue to enter the Earth's atmosphere, and may be responsible for epidemic outbreaks, new diseases, and the genetic novelty necessary for macroevolution. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia

Sounds a like something from an H.P. Lovecraft story, eh?