Not Dead Yet...

Painting and gaming has just about ground to a halt here, although I did pick up the brushes last night for the first time in a couple weeks.  I’ve been busy but also been stupid.  I needed a reminder that standing up under a shelf that’s six inches shorter than me isn’t so bright.  Three stitches in the scalp and a lasting head ache proved a valuable lear8ng experience.  Stitches out, head doing better so pressing on but with a watchful eye overhead.

The article below was in my local paper today.  Hopefully I can visit this WWI bike before it leaves town.

https://leaderpost.com/news/local-news/first-world-war-bicycle-in-regina-to-commemorate-armistice

Book Tour and Signing

The past week my better half and I did one of our infrequent fliers up the road to Saskatoon (a 2.5 hour drive each way).  Unlike our typical "god we need to get out of town" trips, this one came with a specific purpose.  One of our favourite authors Guy Gabriel Kay was at our favourite bookstore  for a reading and signing.

Kay is a Canadian fantasy writer who writes very very good books set in alternate worlds that close follow our own histories.  This are not slash and f*ck novels, but wonderful thought provoking books that are also great reads.  And yes there is some S&Fing in the process and tons of inspiration for any historical gamer.  The Lions of Al-Rassan (go read this book for El-Cid inspiration, it got me hooked!) for instance parallels el-Cid and Al Andalusia, Under Heaven mirrors Tang dynasty China etc.  His latest is Children of Earth and Sky is in a  Renaissance Venetian Empire themed setting.  It was published on May 10th, and Kay was doing his signing in Saskatoon two days later.  In a case of serendipity, I had a meeting set for the afternoon of 12th, but this was cancelled freeing me to take the day and to do the junket.

Kay was a very funny and interesting speaker and we now have a signed copy of his brand new book.  I am looking forward to reading it once my wife finishes it.

What Are the Odds?

Fridaynight was board game night.  First up was Chariotteer (aka Formula I) run by Curt.  Curt (the bastard) drugged my horses which hobbled my whole race.  It went better than it should have as two teams (Jeremy and Stacey) flipped and crashed out so I finished a close third having lost a bid for first at the post.

For the second game I trotted out Terry Pratchett's the Witches  which was good silly fun.  Link to a review

The box notes that you don't need to know the Discworld series to play the game, and test results show this is this case.  Yep, in a random survey of 4 long time gamers we batted 0/4 on Pratchett.  I wish I knew something about probability so I could work out the odds of that!  I knew it was an odd event when Sylvain asked "why do I know the name Terry Pratchett?".

Anyway for those of you who don't know, Mr Pratchett is the best selling UK writer, the top selling non-US bases writer in the USA and he's bloody good!

I love his books because:

• He's bloody funny and a damn good read.
• He has a better way with words than most others and I'm a lover of puns.
• He creates a better thought out world and characters than most "serious" fantasy writers.
• His books have some very biting no wicked social criticism of religion, politics, money, class and other classic comedy topics.
• He writes about things that relate to what I do for a living (death, money, a academics etc).
• He's bloody funny and a damn good read.

 So if you are one a of few who haven't done so,go read yourself some Pratchett.  I recommend Mort or Going Postal.

Christmas Reading

Most years I tend to get some very good history books for Christmas, and 2013 was no exception.  Two are highly recommended. The third I haven't read yet, but based on my skim through and O'Hara's past work it'd bet my hat that it's a corker.

I am about halfway through this one.  The defenders have just pulled back from Maleme airport in fear of the seaborne invasion.  We'll see how that plays out for them…

Excellent work that gives the full story from before the Greco-Italian war in Albania through to resistance.  I find it very interesting how the SOE hired operatives for Greece - they looked at archeology and classics grads from Oxbridge.  The theory was that they would understand Greek!  It did also give them excellent cover.

On a personal note, it is kind of weird for me that two of the witnesses quoted also appeared in one of my favourite books from childhood - Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals (Durrell's brother Lawrence and tutor Theo).

This is a book I've read before, but I am very happy to have my own copy instead of continually borrowing copies from local libraries.  I am sure the librarians are happy I have my own copy too!

Excellent book, and highly recommended - as are all of Graves work.  It covers both Crysler's Farm and Chateauguay, from the Americans two pronged assault on Montreal.

I haven't done more than skim through this yet, but his other books are excellent and this one looks great.  O'Hara covers the twin convoys Vigorous from Alexandria and Harpoon from Gibraltar in June 1942.  These actions are really the Italian Navy's best moments from WW2.

Vigorous turned home when the Italian heavy units closed and Harpoon resulted in the Battle of Panteleria.  Panteleria was the one occasion where the Italians won a surface engagement in WW2.

Reading Shelf

This week I've been reading

Or as my family calls it the Cyberman book!!

Anyway it's very good, if off my current painting and gaming areas (must resist).  It's a big canvas covering the Late Roman (i.e. Byzantine), Sassanid and Arab empires and touches on a lot.  Much of the book is about the development of the key religions during late antiquity and the interactions between religion and state politics.

A topic that I found interesting was the fate of some of the lesser known sects and religions that lost out in the politics.  I had encountered Manichaeism and Nestorian Christians in earlier readings about the Silk road, and it was interesting to find out where they came from before they self-exiled themselves to Central Asia.

So far I'm half way through and still haven't hit the conquests of Belisarius, Heraclius or Muhammad and his followers.

Who Put These Guys In Charge of Western Civilization

Recently I've been (slowly) reading the following books.  Both are highly recommended.

Of course the companion to these is the original source.  I really like the Landmark edition with its maps, pictures and articles.

Most of my readings of Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea were very wargames focused - high on tactics and strategy but lacking much of the historical context.  It was therefore to remind myself just how tenuous the Greek states were, especially Athens.  Also despite knowing how the film turns out, it is clear that the result was very much up in the air and the odds favoured the Persians.

Time to haul out the 1980s vintage ancient Greeks methinks.

Found in the Cheap Section at Chapters

This was on a table in the overstock section of our "local" big box bookseller (the local independents having sadly closed shop last year, it's our only option).  It looks interesting and it's not a theatre I know much about although I remember covering Bolivar and San Martin in grade 9 history (or thereabouts, the memory fades).  It'll will be on the reading shelf once I finish the latest Ian Rankin.