Life (& Death), Investiture planning, movies & Soapstone

Well - life goes on, for most of us.

Unfortunately - our colourful little cat, Tika, passed away last Tuesday night, after running underneath our car in the driveway. She is & will be terribly missed.

Planning for our investiture continues - I think (hope) that we have everything under control - certainly the Mongol boots arriving gladdened my heart & arrested some concern. I'd just like to say a big thanks to Mistress Bliss, who amongst many others is doing a huge amount of work for me.

Have been to see some movies recently, comments as follows:

X-MEN Wolverine, Origins - Excellent action & story was quite good about explaining his background in a bit more detail. Story didn't however keep me & hold me, so good action but story needed a bit of work - on par with the first X-men movie.

Star Trek - Excellent movie - nice twist & change to the history of the Star Trek reality - but nice personification of the young Kirk & crew. Enjoyed it immensely.

Defiance - A WWII movie with a difference - exceptional story about Jews surviving & fighting for themselves in the forests of Bielorussia. Very interesting if obviously hollywoodised.

Today, I cut into my first piece of soapstone. Experimenting with pewter casting. Currently getting my two pieces completely flat & smooth. Next job is drilling holes & filling with pewter to make "joining pins".

Hanbals Falchion

I've added the photos of the Hammer, and while I was taking them I thought I may as well take some photos of my falchion, another of my weapons that is very popular.



This was made for my by Bryce of Arrowsreach, made of a single piece of rattan, split down the middle - with braces of rattan and rubber up the length, with the spaces packed with foam.



It is not a subtle weapon, but then it is for fighting war.



Also took a good photo of our kitten (Kitiara) who is growing quite rapidly, below.

Hope you are all well.

Catching up

Hello all

Sorry - been quiet for a while so haven't written for a while (also curious if there are still many people reading this - feel free to leave a comment, especially if there is anything you want more info or pictures about).

so - let's see what's going on in my life.

I got a new job (with Origin Energy)- and quit my old one of 11+yrs with On-Call. One of the best moves forward I've had in a while.
I experienced a drop in salary of less than $2000 to move into a proper call centre (inbound only). Dealing with private individual clients now rather than companies, but in a much more professional way, in a professional environment, with more support networks than I can poke a stick at - and after less than 2 months I already feel that I belong (4 weeks of thorough training before I took my first call).
Better hours, better conditions and the pay is guaranteed to move forward being part of a big organisation that knows where it wants to go.

My LARP (Live Action Role-Playing) character, which died many months ago, was successfully resurrected, but at a price, his memories. More will follow about this online at the VIC LARP website - http://viclrp.org.au/viclrp/

We have a new Kitten, that has grown quite a bit but still has a whole lot to learn - some photos here soon.

SCA - I'm travelling to Spring War this weekend - the hammer strikes back (he he) - hoping the King will be there, as I haven't actually seen him since Midwinter.
Always a hoot, lots of fighting and great war stories afterwards over beers. With a breakfast so big, noone walks away hungary (and a few can't walk at all).
I'm also travelling to November Crown, where I will be fighting.

I just discovered last night, when re-reading the luggage changes that VIRGINBLUE have brought in, that after these next 2 flights, I may not be taking my armour by plane without spending a lot more money - BASTARDS.

Spent this morning destroying our side fence with a sledgehammer - quite fun actually. Then my neighbour finished it off during the day from the look of the pile of wood on the front lawn. Guy will be round on Friday/Saturday to install a new one.

Our TV died last friday morning - so in the evening we went out to buy a new one - and have gone from a 68cm CRT to a 105cm Plasma - Cool huh. Then I spent Sunday morning sorting out wires for it & the VCR (we were out on Saturday).

Home game D&D (Team Hanbal) - Set the party against 7 Trolls (down the road, attacking a courier who literally, never had a chance (they never saw his red shirt underwear). After the last major encounter, where they were so cautious I thought a chessboard was coming, this time they just charged on in. They have however rescued the couriers pouch and documents (which are actually orders for troops of an dark & menacing force - he he he).

Movies - Saw Journey to the Centre of the Earth - not bad, worth seeing on the big screen.

Hockey, Kitten & Life

Hey all

Well, today marked the start of the 2008 hockey season.

I'm playing in the Metro 3 team again (still with Melton) and today we lost 7-5.
I did however score 3 of the goals. We have a very new team - with a real variety of skill levels - given a few weeks we should start to really operate well together (heres hoping).

Anyhow - it was good to be out on the hockey field again.

Our new kitten "Kitiara" (photo will be along soon) continues to grow & experience the world around her. I must say it is quite rewarding getting to see her deal with issues as she finds them.

She shows promise of again being a large "Hoad" cat (we always have big cats in our family).

Tika (the other cat) is getting used to / learning to put up with her.

I am looking forward to next Friday (ANZAC day games day & BBQ / Housewarming at Dad & Jill's and then on the Saturday I get to run my D&D home campaign through the Maze of the Eye.
Several of the party tried to deal with it on their own a few weeks ago (as a mini-adventure) - after (in their own words reporting back to the others) encountering an insect (with size issues), a number of squads of Kobolds & some possible round shapes with stalks - they decided it would be better to have the whole team for this one.
It should be lots of fun (I got creative).

Anyhow - I am getting itchy to travel again (yes, already), and miss all the friends I made overseas - hopefully something will come along soon & allow us to travel overseas again.

Hope you are all well.

Hanbal/Simon/Samurai