Unit 3 Exploration 1 - Rick

Top Questions:

Will learning a lost art help me understand how medieval peoples lived? Will it help me have a better understanding of my own history?

Just how do I go about learning how to make armor?

Is doing this sort of thing for a living really practical?

I have to admit I'm having a bit of a time coming up with an argument here. It's not exactly my favorite topic, but I'm leaning heavily in the direction of whether or not the blacksmithing skill is really useful in todays society, or can most things that can be made by a smith at a forge be created by machines these days?

Any thoughts about this? To be honest I really enjoy working with my hands and creating something that is artful or useful and practical. The problem with this is that most things that used to be created by hand can now be made on assembly line by machines. This pushes the handmade objects more into the realm of curios and artwork than anything useful. So...if it's not practical to make it by hand anymore, what drives a person to do it?

Just as a side note, I've already been in touch with some of my armoring friends and will probably start learning the craft once I move back east this summer. I'd really like to write something more about the specifics of working with metal but I can't think of a way to make it an argument.

Exploration 1: Q3, Q4, and HeadStart Q1

Q3: This essay provides evidence from both sides of the argument, they may not be actual/proven scientific facts but they give the reader a basic idea of what the arguments are about and whats being said about the specific teaching methods. There is alot of evidence from what people have said through interviews and articles, i didnt really see any scientific data to show which program is struggling or what is the best way to teach bilingual education. I feel this is somewhat effective to get a point across, but there is to many variables to consider any of these idea's hard evidence.

Q4: Elmore's subject headings are very straight forward. They give the reader a heads up and kind of lets the reader know before hand what that paragraph will be about, that way they arent reading through it trying to figure out what the point is of that excerpt all while missing the actual content. I think they are perfect for a research essay.

---HeadStart---
Q1: Well I feel that the second essay was more effective at showing data and evidence from certian government facts like the budgets and numbers of students who are being served through this Head Start program. I liked how the second essay was more persuasive using government data (which everyone believes). The first essay could have a used a bit more hard evidence.

Unit 3 Exploration 1

It was really difficult to narrow down the questions for this argumentative essay, but these are some of my ideas.

1 - The Importance of Heraldry In Defining SCA Characters.

2 - Why clothing can establish Character and Class Distinction?

3 - How do Medieval and Renaissance Re-enactments help students understand History?

4 - Is the SCA considered Historical or Theatrical Re-creationism?

Any ideas on what would be a good topic or one that you would be interested in learning more about?

Response to Questions.

3 - As with any good paper reliable sources are a must. I liked how elmore used sources from not only the scholarly side of of the coin such as the researchers, but she also included the personal thoughts of the people around her like her principle. when it comes to factual evidence, word from a scientist or researcher helps to give credibility to the thought process, while the personal thoughts of the people that live in the moment help to frame the context of the argument

4 - Every good paper should have subject headings and this essay was no different. Headers help not only the reader, but the writer to group focal arguments into like fields. It also helps with the flow of the paper, so that the reader will stay interested.

HEAD START

1 - I love charts and graphs. just as with the chart on poverty, most people understand things a lot better when the can use more then one of their senses. I my self like to see written ideas expressed in a organized manner such as a chart or a graph. It also adds a more professional quality and shows that you understand what you are writing about.

Response to Q1

In "Pursuing an Educated Mind", the most effective part for me was the first personal account. I gave the essay a human face for me and I could visualize what Maria's education experience might have been like had she been exposed to a bilingual education instead of the immersion type. This wasn't enough to convince anyone that bilingual is superior to immersion, only that it brought a human element to the essay. Instead of the general references to students or children in 3rd grade etc, we had Maria, a real person with real problems struggling to keep up. That made me pay more attention to the essay than I probably would have.

In "Who deserves a Head Start", I really felt like it was an emotional plea for some reason. While I personally agree that the Head Start program is a good thing, I don't particularly care for reading something that seems to rely on emotion instead of fact. Under the "Why children should not be served" section there was a bit of back and forth between the proponents and critics of this program. Where the critics believe the program should be eliminated because while it may show and initial benefit, these gains "do not last and that by the eighth grade (and certainly high school) the performance of children who completed one year Head Start programs is not much better than that of children who did not." Later on in the piece proponents stated "that Head Start is designed to give disadvantaged children a boost that allows Head Start children to compete with children from more fortunate homes."

One thing that did work well and really caught my attention was on the last page where it talked about who these critics are that want to end the program. "Some may argue that preschool had no lasting effects, yet numerous studies disprove this. In addition, many of these critics that are arguing for the elimination of Head Start are the parents who are sending their own children to preschool. Why should only the privileged be able to benefit from preschool?" This last part rings pretty true with me as I've always been a strong believer in the group is stronger than the individual. I ask myself which I'd rather see, 100 exceptionally gifted children, or 100,000 well rounded and educated children. The answer is simple for me. I'll take the 100,000 every time.

Exploration 1 - Response to Q4

The section headings looked to be designed to start out giving a broad overview of the subject starting with the personal account, then moving on to the history and types of programs. The essay seemed to get more specific as it went on until it reached the effectiveness and suggestions part.

Overall I felt that the headings did a good job of introducing the subject as a broad topic then narrowed and focused it for me to the debate over which type might be more effective and what could be changed to help the youngsters caught in the middle.

Exploration 1 - Response to Q3

Q3 - It started off with the story about Maria, and the difficulties she had in class because she didn't understand english. While this probably isn't hard evidence, it shows and classic example of how a non-english speaking student struggles when suddenly thrust into a situation where only english is being spoken. It talked about how she spent very little time in class and was always off in her ESL classes and the like.

The author presented a little background history on the bi-lingual education which helped to set the stage, at least for me, as to why these types of programs might be considered necessary.

She then presented the types of programs that are available and this set the stage for the next section which I think is the heart of the matter: Which is the more effective program? Bilingual, or immersion?

The best evidence I saw was the section about the effectiveness of these two programs and why they are so varied. The author mentioned some statistics which leaned heavily toward immersion by saying that reading and math scores of California elementary students showed a big increase at a school which used the English immersion technique.

Overall I didn't find one kind of evidence that persuaded me more than another. While some programs may seem to be more effective than another, this can be due to outside factors which the author mentions, such as the teacher's proficiency in both languages, student comprehension, and use of both languages at home as well as in class.

Observations

1. 6:45, people start arriving at the warehouse

2. Noticed a peculiar setup on the leg pieces of of their armor. They were held up by a weight lifters belt

3. Morgan the armorer wears custom made armor

4. New member started learning fighting forms

5. All the fighters warmed up using a technique called slow fighter

6. Spoke with Xeno the rapier master at arms.

7. Practiced rapier fighting forms with Xeno and one other rapier student.

8. Learned of several different types of blades


Impressions

2. Interesting note. The fighters seem to adapt and arm their gear using everyday items. Only some people like Morgan have authentic gear.

3. Morgan presented a very daunting and quite impressive display. No wonder he’s a master at arms.

4. The fighting forms are adapted from known medieval fighting manuscripts

5. The fighters are very serious about warming up. One of the new fighters actually got yelled at for not warming up

6. Xeno is also head of the Sea Gryphon's a guild that focuses on nautical recreation.

8. Personally I liked the short 32” rapier with the Spanish hilt and grip

So I started my search in the library catalogue looking for festivals in the middle ages and came upon a book about drama, acting and festivals titled Festivals and plays in late medieval Britain / Clifford Davidson, call number PR641 .D37 2007. After looking thought the table of contents I saw that it was mostly about playwrights and not the actual festivals. So I went back to the catalogue and looked at the related material. I clicked on medieval history and came upon a book about heraldry titled Heraldry Illustrated by W.B. Abbot, call number CR23.A2. It contained a lot of useful information on how people in the SCA create their identification and family symbols.

Lateral searches

So I was poking around the Albertson's Library and started by searching for "Medieval Armor." I came up with this which looked fairly interesting:

http://catalog.boisestate.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?LANGUAGE=English&DB=local&BBID=531947

I poked around a bit more and found one about medieval warfare that I liked. Here is the chain that led me to it. It doesn't look to be specifically about making armor but more on how it was used in warfare. It seems to me that smiths would need to study and understand how the armor was being used in order to make better armor, so I decided I wanted to look this one up, maybe check it out for some light, or heavy, reading.

http://catalog.boisestate.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?SC=Subject&SEQ=20090302230246&PID=dFxmgMEZFIoU9uNd6OOkwRAu3&SA=Europe+History,+Military.

http://catalog.boisestate.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?LANGUAGE=English&DB=local&BBID=449476

I like this lateral searching technique....it's just like browsing on the web, going from link to link. It is easy to get lost though so I need to remember to either bookmark or copy the links so I can get back to them.

Crazy ain't it?

This doesn't have much to do with my topic or armorsmithing...well, I guess it does, just though some of you might want to see what fascinates us so much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77IEeJ5ZtiA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah0NkYbZNiE&eurl=http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=Warriors+and+Warlords&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&clie

Finally found the Armorer's

Hey gang,

I haven't had the chance to do any observations as yet but I was able to go to a heavy fighter practice today and meet with Sir Morgan. He makes armor and weapons full time for re-enactors and I've set up all this next week to go sit with him in his shop and find out what he does and why he does it.

I've also discovered that blacksmithing isn't really the same as armorsmithing so my topic may be getting altered slightly.

That's really all I've got for now, but I will post my first observations either tomorrow or Tuesday. He has a weekly get together at his house to work on armor and just generally be a guys night in the garage that I've been invited to. I'm going to take my armor over and let him and his friends make any suggestions for changes.

Ok, enough rambling.......stay tuned......

WoW Raid Meeting and WCA question #3 (late)

Observations:

1. 11AM everyone logs on and meets for the Saturday morning raid of Ank Hill.
2. There's about 20 players in the raid group all under one leader who seems very organized and keeps everyone in order maybe that is why it seems he is highly respected. 
3. There are a few others trying to get into the group late but they are told no because they are to late. They are getting annoying and asking alot.
4. Alot of people get ready for the raid and respec and grab different gear from their banks.
5. Everyone seems to be super excited, this is a free server so nobody knows what drop they will get?
6. People are chatting in game and it seems that most everyone is friendly and knows eachother quite well. Some people are using a voice chat program called ventrilo.
7. There are a few VIP players that i think i will ask to interview as well.
8. i see some gamemasters or GM's watching and hanging out.
9. Everyone is attacking one monster or mob that has an insane amount of health.
10. 12:36PM the mob has died and everyone has gotten a token that can be turned in for better gear. most people have left and others are still around just chatting. 
    

Impressions:

1. These players seem to long for these saturday morning raids. Most of them seem like kids going to the annual fair and thats just from watching them talk in-game.
2. I feel i should interview the raid leader and figure out why all these people respect him and let him lead.
3. I guess this is a life lesson...Dont be late! 
4. I wonder how long have people spent getting all this gear and experience?
5. Why would people spend a good hour and a half killing a single monster, trying to get one single item? 
6. I am wondering how all these people meet and start playing wow?
7. I see that the vip players have really good gear. where did they get it?
8. How long does it take for people to have enough experince to be a GM?
9. I see that on free servers alot of gear is created and is 100 times better then the retail gear so that must be why the mob has more health.
10. I wonder how many of these people are actual friends other then game friends?

WCA question #3:

As I read kidders excerpt I get the sense that he is being pulled more towards the conservative side. As I read on I got the sense that this was a happy, quiet, little town full of people with conservative views and ways that was slowly overtaken by younger more liberal people who wanted to come in and change this town. As I read on I felt kidder expressing sympathy for the older towns folk who just wanted to be left alone and to there merry little ways. His writing was slowly subconsciously influencing me in the direction he was leaning towards weather he meant it or not. 

My attitude towards my community is greatly influenced by my experiences, so when i talk about my community I am very enthusiastic about it. I could probably persuade anyone to dab into my group. But I realize everyones experiences are different so some people might hate my community while others like it. It just depends on your own personal experience with that community. 

Populace Meeting, Febuary 22, 2009

Observations:

1) 5:45, People start arriving W/ their whole families.

2) All the guild leaders have set up different displays representing the different groups that are represented.

3) Saw many new people and met some of them. Also saw most of the members from the archer’s guild that I met.

4) 6:00, Seneschal opens the meeting with reports from the heads of the guilds

5) The guild officers report on the events that they have held within the previous month and make proposals for upcoming events.

6) The members of each guild were asked to possibly help with an antique auction for the Idaho Historical Society.

7) Seems that people in the local chapter prefer hands-on events over lectures.

8) Torch-light Tourney

9) Baron seems to be a figurehead. Doesn’t have much say in how his kingdom runs.

10) 6:45, Everyone shakes hands and depart for their mundane existences

Impressions:

1) These people really seem to enjoy participating in events as a family unit.

2) The Archer’s, Casting, and Armory Guilds seem very interesting I think I will attend these meetings and see if I can gain any more information on the type of people that are attracted to the reenactment.

3) How do these people find time to attend all these different meetings? What do they do in their mundane careers?

4) He seems to be the real man in charge of this chapter. Might know the most about this group of people. Possible interview candidate.

6) Big question. Why is the SCA involved in Idaho history projects? Do they receive any money for their help?

7) These people seem to truly enjoy reenacting and recreating medieval and renaissance time periods and arts.

8) What is this?

9) Seems like a very nice guy. Very easy to approach I believe he will be one of my interviews

10) Can’t wait for my next observations which will be the casting guild.

Archer's Guild; February 20, 2009

Observations:

1) 6:45, Everyone begins to gather

2) Imediately I am welcomed by no less then 5 different people

3) 7:00, After getting my name and information I am outfitted with all the equipment I need and am welcomed on to the shooting range to participate with them.

4) Noticed a lot of family units participating in the events together

5) Several officers of many different guilds approached me to introduce themselves and accertain my interests.

6) Some of the guilds seemed almost wolfish to snag new members

7) There were very strict commands from the field marshal and everyone listened to her

8) Noticed many of the Playtrons really getting into the roles of their characters

9) Lots of extra loaner gear

Impressions:

1) Comradery is instant. These people love it when mew members express an interest in their ancient skills

2) Lady Clare the Field marshal was very nice and made sure I felt welcome

3) Again very friendly people and very serious about creating historical reenactments.

4) This is not just a bunch of single people getting together but it seems to be very family oriented.

5)This could lead to possible interview candidates. Still not sure on who sould be interviewed. I will defiantly try to get an interview with the Baron or Baroness.

6) I wonder what their turnouts are like and if they generate fees by the numbers of attendees? Possible inlet for more observations.

7) Lady Clare. How long has she been a member? What inspired her to join the guild?

8) How do the playtrons create their roles? Are there any special requirements or standards that must be followed?

9) Possibly they expect a lot of people to show up. How many people participate in the local group?

The Anarchist's Cookbook, found on PG. 143 is a very intriguing cultural artifact. not only is this a book that these boys shared and traded, but it also helped to define what it means to be truly free. Coincidental this book has instilled ideas of freedom from "the man"in many young minds and produced some of the mainstream gangs on the streets today.

WCA Late Response to Question #3 cuz I'm a slacker...;)

As I read through the initial pages and listened to Kidder describing the history and background of this town, I tried to imagine what kind of person he was. Was he a tolerant sort or more rigid in his moral views. I'm still not sure. As we proceeded through the excerpt and into the heart of the matter, that of whether the DPO should be passed, I started to feel that he was leaning towards the conservative side, in that although this town was known for it's tolerance, when its citizens felt that something was wrong or threatened what they considered a moral way of life, they stood up to be counted. I'm not sure if this is making any sense but it seems that the townfolk were content to let sleeping dogs lie as it were. As long as people kept a low profile and didn't disturb the peace of the town, they were content to just let folks go about their business. It's only when they, **whoever introduced this bill**, tried to formalize things that folks started to take notice and voice thier opinions. Of course, all this might not mean much if you read the last line. "As usual, a majority of the adult population hadn't even bothered to vote." After I'd read the article and this line, I almost felt let down, like he had made it out to be this big argument the whole town was involved in when in actuality less than half the town was even paying attention.

As for me, as hard as I may try to be open minded and tolerant, my life experiences always get in the way. When trying to describe my community, say the SCA community, I always tend to gloss over some of the, shall we say, less than stellar parts of it. It's something I enjoy so I try to cast it in as favorable light as possible. It's not easy to look at yourself or your community and admit your own faults.

And lastly, sorry I didn't post this in time....I have no excuse.....I'll go sit in the corner now...**hangs head in shame**

WCA #3, Kidder Reaponse

Kidder gives us a good example of how perception can define our writing. When describing his community he tries to keep a neutral opinion about the issues but like any human leans toward the issues that strike his way of thinking. For instance on the issue of traditional Northampton values versus the Domestic Partnership Ordinance(DPO), Kidder because of hi values seems to lean more towards the idea of traditional values. Growing up in a small town in the Idaho backwoods, I saw just how radical things things could be. Small com unities like Driggs, Idaho are very Conservative and have a tendency to reject change.

World of Warcrack

Well for my ethnography I plan on interviewing 2 family members that got me to play world of warcraft a while back. Luckily I didn't get addicted like many other people have! Those two people would be my cousin, and secondly my dad. My cousin doesn't really play anymore because he ran out of money to pay for WoW and he had to get a job and then decide to "quit" WoW. My cousin is mainly responsible for both my father and I playing WoW. My dad has now been playing for over 2 and a half years and hasn't stopped. When he had a job he would come home and play wow till he slept then wake up play and then off to work again and repeat... Now he doesn't even work. I swear he just saved up enough money to live off for a while so he can play wow everyday all day. Its sad I know, but I'm pretty sure thats what he did. I feel they are both very good candidates for an ethnography, they represent the addicted and the once addicted players. So I will hopefully get some good responses from them so I can figure out what about this game "addicts" them!

All Things Renaissance

I found this awsome website with links to many topics relating to renaissance and reenactment. There is even a section for blacksmithing.

www.sirclisto.com/table.html

Rennie connections

As per the assignment most of the "rennies" that I know are hard to get a hold of but I hope to meet some of them at the fair in moscow this year in march. Until then I will get to know the local reenactors here in Boise while I do my research.

People I plan to contact about my project

So, I'm researching blacksmithing, with possible emphasis on the smithing in the middle ages. I'll have to see how that works out and if I can find enough of a community here in the valley. I'm fairly sure I can and have already sent out some emails to the local group of the SCA here in the valley. Hopefully I'll get a response soon.

In particular I'm looking to talk to a gentleman who goes by the alias of Morgan in the SCA. He is an armorer and has made some very nice sets of armor for both himself and many fighters in our society. I'm hoping that he can introduce me to others in the blacksmithing community here in the valley. I also plan to contact some people back in Minnesota that are smiths. I had the privilege of spending a day with them in their shop a few years back and they might be able to assist me in my research. Specifically I'll be talking with my friend Bob and he can put me in touch with his friends there.

Wish me luck...:)

REASONS TO URGENTLY STOP PLAYING WOW! lol

Im not sure what we are all allowed to blog about but i just wanted to post this, i thought it was funny, sorry if you guys have seen it before! 

1: words like gank, pwn, and aggro have made it into your regular vocabulary.
2: you find yourself hitting your push-to-talk key to the person next to you, on the phone, or any other place that's not Vent.
3: You've had nightmares that involve Death Knights, Murlocs, or *shudder* Gnome Rogues.
4: you think of your errand day in terms of a quest log.
5: you think of gifts for your friends and family as rep turn-ins, and you're hoping for epic lootz under the Christmas tree.
6: you secretly wish that playing the stock market was as easy as the auction house.
7: when none of your friends want to do something URL, you seriously consider PUGging it. 
8: You're so spoiled by in-game camera controls that when watching TV or Movies you long to be able to pan and zoom.
9: You find yourself shouting Leeeeeeroy! when you're nowhere near a computer.
10: when you got to the zoo with your friends/family and you reach the Tiger exibit you find your self climbing into the exibit and trying to tame the animal!
11: when you go to church you ask a priest to ressurect a dead relative
12: when you go down to the local bar you ask the bartender to set your hearthstone to this location

IF ANY OF THESE SYMPTOMS OCCUR IN YOUR DAILY LIFE STOP PLAYING WOW!

Changed everyone to Admin

I found a way to change everyone to admin status so you all have god-like powers now. Let me know if this is a bad idea....don't want any of you running off trying to stop the sun or rearrange the heavens.....**yea...you know who you are...hehehe**

Practice Post

Wow...I R UBER....hehehe