Archive for September, 2007

I don’t even recall clearly the meetings at the beginning of the year. Those times before Calaveras faire. I don’t even clearly recall the Symposium way back in February. Amazing how much water flows under the bridge each year.

I’m always thankful for the new people I get to meet and the new adventures. This year has been surprisingly drama free (knock on wood) and I hope it manages to continue along those lines for at least the time being. This evening is Christina’s 40th birthday party and I’m finding that I am really looking forward to it. I can’t believe that the time has flown that fast – it was 17 years ago now that we all met back at San Francisco State. I wonder if Nick will be there tonight, would be nice to catch up w/ him – I’d heard that he’s now engaged, and been meaning to wish him regards.

Now then, back to work and to ping Erika to see if she has time to trim my hair before this evening. Or maybe I should just go see if Heather has an open appointment.

After this weekend is Shasta Faire, which I really hope goes well. I think overall I’m just so tired – I know Marti and Rellie are both exhausted as well. Next year more delegation to more people. Spreading the pre-faire chores around will help us from frying quite as hard as we have been.

So here’s what’s left to go (unless I’ve forgotten something)

Shasta
Maybe a visit to Casa
Folsom
Kearney
End of Year Guild Dinner

Wheel of Time Author Robert Jordan Dies

Sometimes even when you’ve fought your best….

Reposted:

The first is a website that discusses historical gun powder through the eyes of a chemist. Reading his history of gun powder is interesting because he gives evidence that gun powder in Europe was developed by Europeans. He discusses the development of saltpeter, also known as potassium nitrate, and how very pure stock of this gun powder ingredient was “grown.” The importance of charcoal is discussed, and he tells us how to make a historical slow match for musketeers that will burn at a rate of 8 inches an hour.

If you like history or you want to make your own slow match, this is a fantastic website. http://www.musketeer.ch/blackpowder/history.html

Focusing on the common reenactor, I found another site that gives instructions on how to quickly create a good slow match. No historical evidence is cited, but the author offers his own experiments and results for a potassium nitrate-based match. He obtains his potassium nitrate from a chemical supply store. For comparison, the website mentioned previously, who cited his source to 1668, uses potassium carbonate from common hearth ash and lead acetate.

Despite not being 100% historically accurate, the match creation process from this site is quick, easy, and functions well in wind. http://www.metamuseum.com/us/slowmatch/index.cfm